Restrictions on Trade in Telecommunications: WTO’s Cybersecurity Conundrum

Abstract

This article examines the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in balancing the nexus among a rule-based multilateral trade system, national security, and cybersecurity. It presents a historical account of restrictions placed on the telecommunications trade over national security concerns and focuses on the significant political risks thereof for the WTO if these restrictions are challenged at its dispute settlement system. An analysis based on the WTO Panel rulings in ‘Russia – Traffic in Transit’ and ‘Saudi Arabia – Protection of IPRs’ is revealing in this context. It shows that, despite the obvious cybersecurity concerns, the invocation of the national security exception is not straightforward. The turn to power politics and regionalism highlights the significance of multilateral organizations that provide a more inclusive structure to reflect and protect the interests of all their members, not just those that hold positions of power and control. As long as the stalemate at organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) continues, despite the need for a more legitimate, inclusive multilateral framework, the expectation of a ruling on trade-related aspects of cybersecurity will place an unnecessary burden on the WTO dispute settlement system. Cybersecurity, World Trade Organization, National Security Exception, Telecommunications, Multilateralism, Regionalism, Geopolitics