Overcoming Digital Trade Barriers with AI Agents: Opportunities, Strategies, and a Regulatory Adaptation Perspective

As the global digital economy becomes deeply integrated, digital trade has emerged as a core engine of international trade growth. However, differing value orientations and interests have led to the emergence of diverse regulatory frameworks with distinct emphases. This fragmentation of regional regulatory systems conflicts with the large-scale cross-border flow of digital elements, thereby hindering the globalization of digital trade. From the perspective of regulatory adaptation, this article systematically analyzes how AI agents empower technological solutions to overcome digital trade barriers. It further reveals their unique opportunities in rule interpretation, dynamic compliance, and collaborative governance, and proposes a three-stage strategic pathway: “technology adaptation – rule transformation – ecological collaboration.” This study finds that AI agents can effectively reduce the cost of regulatory adaptation and provide precise compliance solutions for digital trade entities through semantic parsing, real-time learning, and cross-domain collaboration. It offers a theoretical framework for technological pathways to overcoming digital trade barriers and provides strategic insights for China’s participation in global digital governance.