Data Infrastructure and Industrial Policy: How WTO Subsidy Rules Address State-Led Digital Innovation

Abstract Governments increasingly view data as a strategic asset, providing curated datasets and computing resources to domestic firms as part of national industrial development. This shift raises a fundamental question: can the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement), which was negotiated for tangible goods in a pre-digital era, accommodate state provision of data and computational capacity as subsidies in the twenty-first-century economy? This paper examines that question, not to argue for a definitive answer but to map the doctrinal pathway and identify key analytical steps, evidentiary requirements, and practical constraints. Rather than focusing narrowly on artificial intelligence, this analysis situates data provision within broader debates about WTO law’s technological neutrality, the evolving purpose of subsidy rules, and the resurgence of digital industrial policy. By tracing the function of data as a critical production input and analyzing specific state initiatives, this paper identifies key considerations for policymakers and adjudicators assessing the alignment of data infrastructure measures with SCM disciplines. The analysis reveals both the analytic promise of existing legal frameworks and their significant practical limitations.