Coming Weeks Mark Window for ITA Expansion Talks, Says Industry
Parties to the Information Technology Agreement should come together in the coming weeks to broker an expansion deal before the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, industry leaders said in a Sept. 28 statement. The expansion deal would eliminate tariffs on more IT products, and also “help restore confidence” in the WTO, following the recent collapse of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. WTO members have yet to chart a path forward in TFA negotiations (see 14092522).
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The U.S. and China are two of the 70 nations involved in the expansion talks, but both sides blame each other for not putting appropriate concessions on the table (see 13112217). “For the past several years, APEC leaders have repeatedly called for swift conclusion of a balanced and commercially significant outcome to these negotiations,” said the statement. “Product expansion of the ITA, as well as expansion of geographic scope of the agreement would yield immediate and substantial benefits, removing tariffs on a vast array of tech products.”
Despite many IT industry developments in recent years, the ITA hasn't broadened its list of duty-exempt products since its launch in 1996. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman also called for the expansion talks to wrap up by November (see 14070801). The location of the APEC meeting may help to break the U.S.-China deadlock, said John Neuffer, senior vice president-global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, in a blog post (here). “As host to APEC this year, China will likely want to trumpet noteworthy trade deliverables when the leaders meet in Beijing this November,” said Neuffer. “And China should want to reaffirm its support for the WTO. ITA expansion stands out as the most likely — and most significant — among the potential trade deliverables.”