Lack of A Legal Framework:Now that we have the technology and trade agreements to facilitate border-free trades, why not using them. So far, the only major obstacle to the advent of smart contracts is a lack of a legal framework. It is no surprise that the legal structures to regulate the manner in which society utilizes new technologies always lag behind the technologies themselves. The regulatory issues surrounding the advent of online gambling or the distribution of digitized music are good examples. Historically, the agencies tasked with protecting consumers concerning securities and overseeing currency have been slow-footed to catch up to the workings of this complex technology. There have been some early attempts at legislation. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), introduced the Token Taxonomy Act in 2018, updating it in April 2019. Early versions of the massive bailout legislation to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic included some forms of a digital dollar to quicken the government aid to the non-banked. In conclusion, AI, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technologies are no different on the regulatory front. Instead of blocking, it is time to utilize these technologies, to facilitate our across-border trades. Maybe it is time to draft a state-less law to regulate border-free trades in our new mercantile community.IntroductionAt the time of NAFTA’s negotiation, the world appeared to be dividing into regional trading groups like the European Union (EU) and MERCOSUR.10 While global trade talks through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Uruguay Round were faltering (1993), the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round trade negotiations was in peril.11 In fact, other regional agreements grew stronger as the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO), launched in 2001, failed to conclude with an agreement.This Paper analyzes the evolution of trade rules for digital commerce across the North American marketplace, specifically trades governed by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It explores the manner in which NAFTA treated Intellectual Property (IP) and how USMCA introduced new chapters to protect IP and digital trade data while facilitating digital commerce. Part II explores the history of IP rights protection under NAFTA. Part III reviews the new challenges in the information age that are covered or not covered in United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Part IV concludes with a call for more prescriptions of future modern and advanced methods for cross-border finance and data protection. It touches on the application of new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart contracts that can be used for the protection of free trade.Intellectual Property under of North American Free Trade Agreement:Indeed, “NAFTA was a trade agreement that, by reducing tariffs on many goods and services, created the opportunity for North American companies to [utilize] transnational vertical supply chains and better compete in the global marketplace.”27 NAFTA was the first free trade agreement to include an Intellectual Property Rights chapter28 and contained provisions aimed at securing IP rights. The NAFTA Parties were to adopt strict measures against industrial theft, adhere to rules protecting IP,29 and create foreseen consequences for the Violation of IP rights.30 As a result, in order to comply with the dictates of NAFTA, Mexico had to change many of its laws.31 For example, Mexico had to amend Article 27 of its Constitution to address Mexico’s communal landholding doctrine, the ejido.Data Flow between the Parties:“Cross-border data flow” refers to the movement or transfer of information between computer servers across national borders.51 In fact, cross-border data flows are part of, and integral to, digital trade and facilitate the movement of goods, services, people, and finance.Use of Technology to Protect Digital Trade:Businesses across the economy and the country will benefit from FTAs including “Digital Economy.” In areas such as data processing, blockchain, self-driving cars, and quantum technology we have the opportunity to help shape global rules through ambitious digital trade provisions. Moreover, innovations in technology have the potential to enable and disrupt international commerce. For example, the United States-Mexico remittance corridor is one of the largest in the world, with over $30 billion in transactions a year, financial transactions for such a large amount can be very challenging. However, the rapid development of cryptocurrencies has enabled cross-border transactions at just a fraction of the cost and unprecedented speeds, spurring collaboration between crypto innovators in the U.S. and Mexico. The good news is that USMCA provides opportunities for blockchain technology to be deployed and showcased for use cases and eventual scalability.Smart Contract:Blockchain ensures immediate and across-the-board transparency, as transactions added to the blockchain are time-stamped and cannot easily be tampered with. Smart contracts can be used to automate processes, further reducing costs. However, the outside of Blockchain smart contracts retain the same potential problems as centralized databases. Smart contracts represent the next level in the progression of blockchains from a financial transaction protocol to an all-purpose utility. Due to their decentralized and distributed nature and the use of cryptographic techniques, blockchains are said to be highly resilient to cyber-attacks compared to traditional databases – although there is no such thing as perfect resilience. They are pieces of software, not contracts in the legal sense, that extend blockchains’ utility from simply keeping a record of financial transaction entries to automatically implementing terms of agreements. The term “smart contract” is, in fact, a misnomer: smart contracts are neither “smart” (there is no cognitive or artificial intelligence component to them, only the automatic execution of a pre-defined task when certain conditions are met), nor are they contract in a legal sense
