In a January 12 letter to senior administration officials, several House Representatives challenged the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP") trade pact's provision that excludes financial services from commitments on cross-border data flows and data localization. According to the letter, the exclusion is a "missed opportunity" to prohibit the increasingly prevalent localization requirements that impair American companies' competitiveness, reduce overall data security, and create inefficiencies. The TPP was signed in February but has not yet been ratified by Congress.

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