U.S. trade representatives have urged Australia to scrap proposed laws that will make it the first country in the world to force tech giants to pay local media companies for news content. Assistant Trade Representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers called on the government not to rush the laws and to work towards developing a voluntary code if possible. “The U.S. Government is concerned that an attempt, through legislation, to regulate the competitive positions of specific players in a fast-evolving digital market, to the clear detriment of two U.S. firms (Google and Facebook), may result in harmful outcomes” according to its submission (pdf) to the Senate Economics Committee. “There may also be long-lasting negative consequences for U.S. and Australian firms, as well as Australian consumers,” it continued. The submission claimed the News Media Bargaining Code placed a highly prescriptive burden on the two tech giants, even when they had not …