Antitrust Challenges in Digitised and Sustainability-Linked Trade Agreements

Competition law seeks to safeguard all four factors of production, yet its analytical framework remains largely anchored in goods-based markets. As production reorganises along global value chains and value increasingly shifts towards intangible assets, data and technology, traditional antitrust approaches become progressively misaligned with contemporary trade realities. This paper argues that two developments intensify this disconnect. First, the rise of digitisable trade transforms physical goods into transmitted design files, creating an artificial data gap in conventional trade measurement. Second, digital trade agreements and sustainability-driven industrial policies increasingly rely on club-based regulatory arrangements that shape market access through standards and institutional membership rather than price competition. Consequently, market power is exercised through control over data, technology and standards, while regulatory cooperation may facilitate anticompetitive outcomes under the guise of public-interest objectives. These developments challenge existing antitrust frameworks and have particularly significant implications for developing economies navigating the global trade.