트럼프 2기 행정부의 플랫폼 전략: 디지털 중상주의 접근의 특징과 한계

This study conducts an in-depth analysis of the platform policies of a second Trump administration, utilizing the framework of digital mercantilism. Adopting a qualitative case study methodology, it analyzes key policy cases based on primary sources such as official U.S. government reports, executive orders, and legislation to examine the strategy's characteristics, economic implications, and evaluate its ripple effects on global governance. A Trump administration would likely employ a strategy combining domestic deregulation with external trade pressure, pursuing policies such as an executive order to dismantle anti-competitive regulatory barriers, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a ban on TikTok, preferential federal procurement of AI, and trade strategies to counter Digital Service Taxes (DST). The analysis suggests that in the short term, these policies could have positive effects, such as promoting innovation among U.S. platform companies, strengthening user trust, and creating demand for startups. However, in the long term, they carry structural risks, including the intensification of Big Tech's monopoly power, increased dependency of startups, fragmentation of norms, and escalating conflicts with allies. In particular, the TikTok ban and the DST counter-strategy, while framed by the logic of national security and tax sovereignty, effectively strengthen the protection of domestic platforms, clearly revealing a "digital nationalist" character. Furthermore, this study cross-analyzes the impact on the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in addition to Big Tech firms. While deregulation and public procurement could expand growth opportunities for early-stage companies, the costs of regulatory compliance and the entrenchment of dominant market power risk undermining innovation diversity. At the global governance level, it is highly likely that U.S.-EU regulatory competition, a U.S.-China digital cold war, and conflicts over digital taxes will destabilize the international normative order. Middle-power countries like South Korea can actively participate in shaping the rules of global governance by establishing an international mutual recognition framework for digital trust norms, enhancing the transparency of public payment and data infrastructures, and specializing in the international standardization of core technologies like AI semiconductors. This presents a path beyond simply accepting the norms set by superpowers, demonstrating how a "small but strong country" can play a proactive role in the formation of global governance while maintaining a balance between openness, autonomy, and national interest.