What happens to SMEs if the Cloud is taxed at the border

HARA, an Indonesian agri-data firm, depends on global Cloud computing to process the information that enables traceability, compliance and access to finance across agricultural supply chains. These capabilities help smallholder farmers, producers and others across the value-chain meet requirements for domestic and export markets. If the WTO e-commerce Moratorium lapses, duties on electronic transmissions could sharply raise Cloud costs. For HARA, and millions of companies like it, this would undermine competitiveness and disrupt operations.

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For HARA, a blockchain technology company for agriculture, and for the more than 30 million micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia that increasingly depend on digital services, cross-border data flows are increasingly core to business operations.

HARA's journey began in 2018. Firnando Buenayre Sirait joined at an early stage, and helped co-found, shape and scale the company into what it is today. HARA was built to solve a real-world challenge: farmers are often invisible to banks, insurers and buyers because their identities and land information cannot be easily confirmed. HARA collects and verifies farmer data - including satellite imagery to map their plots - across 212 villages in Indonesia, covering more than 9,000 farmers. With more trustworthy data, financial institutions can more confidently assess and extend loans and insurance to smallholders who have traditionally been excluded.

"It's ironic because I never set out to work in agriculture - I was more interested in blockchain and crypto," recalled Firnando Buenayre Sirait. "But when my business partner began exploring how those technologies could support agriculture, I followed along. Even though my late grandparents were farmers with a small rice mill, I had always taken that part of my roots for granted. In 2018, I spent a month in the village to understand the work firsthand and something shifted. Turning 30 that year, I felt a sense of purpose: the realisation that in an industry so focused on trading, the people who actually grow our food are often forgotten. I fell in love with supporting those producers and became committed to helping them gain more independence and fairness - believing that data could be a powerful tool to get them there."

Yet, while HARA stores personal data in Indonesia and applies governance controls around how data is managed, the company - now with around 50 employees - relies, like many modern businesses, on global Cloud services to process that data, especially for analytics and geospatial workloads. If governments begin imposing duties on electronic transmissions - which is what's at stake if the World Trade Organization (WTO) e-commerce Moratorium is not renewed at the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference in March - the cost of using foreign Cloud services could increase significantly. For HARA, this would make it harder to scale its operations and deliver affordable services across agricultural supply chains, especially to farmers.

What began as a mission to make farmers visible has evolved into a broader effort to make them more verifiable and better prepared to participate in broader value chains. HARA helps farmers, aggregators, and ecosystem partners meet data and traceability requirements that are increasingly needed by lenders, buyers and exporters. Affordable access to global Cloud computing is a key part of what enables HARA to remain competitive and continue supporting this process.

"For us, taxing cross-border data flows would make it more expensive to scale our services," said Mr Sirait. "If we can't move data at low cost, it's harder to innovate and operate."

In practical terms, customs duties could force HARA to redesign its data architecture, including how the data is stored, transmitted and certified across systems. This could potentially push companies to shift workloads to domestic alternatives. That would likely mean fewer service options, higher prices or lower performance - particularly for advanced analytics and satellite data processing where global providers currently lead.

Higher costs and new regulatory hurdles could also shift company resources where they are most needed, potentially diverting investment away from growth strategies and the onboarding of new farmers. This, in turn, directly affects development outcomes including farmers' access to credit, insurance and markets - by slowing the systems that help make them visible and verifiable.

HARA already feels the weight of compliance, Mr Sirait explains.

After Indonesia adopted a personal data protection law in 2022, the company had to invest considerably in compliance readiness, including staff capability development and certification. For a growing technology company, these are meaningful costs that must be managed carefully. HARA supports strong data governance and compliance, but is concerned about the cumulative cost and operational burden on SMEs when new measures are introduced without sufficient consideration of how digital businesses actually operate.

Similarly, new duties at the border would add further financial and operational strain.

"MSMEs cannot absorb endless cost increases," he said. "If taxes or duties are added to cross-border data transmissions, businesses like ours in Indonesia and beyond will be hit hardest. Policymakers need to understand how small and medium enterprises actually operate. We are a major source of economic growth and need room to grow."

Room to grow and innovate

For companies like HARA, the WTO e-commerce moratorium is not an abstract policy issue - it is critical operational issue. If governments begin taxing cross-border data flows or digital services, innovation will suffocate.

"Data is like oxygen for us as a company," said Firnando, "it keeps our company alive. We tax carbon because it harms the environment. But taxing oxygen would be like suffocating innovation and growth."

By keeping cross-border digital trade open, the Moratorium helps ensure that companies like HARA can continue building bridges and trusted connections: between farmers and financial institutions, between local producer, exporters and broader markets, and supporting compliance and traceability pathways that enable participation in broader value chains. For millions of smallholders who have long remained invisible, that bridge can make the difference between exclusion and opportunity.

ICC is committed to securing what business needs at the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026. Learn more about the importance of renewing the WTO e-Commerce Moratorium and our call for WTO reform.