New | US, China lead final round of talks to lift tariffs on tech products
Widening the scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) would remove tariffs on about US$1 trillion (HK$7.75 trillion) in sales of information and communications technology products
Efforts to cut tariffs on more information and communications technology products may be on the verge of a successful conclusion as negotiations resume tomorrow in Geneva, following a major breakthrough reached by the United States and China last month in Beijing.
Widening the scope of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), a pact launched in 1997 under the World Trade Organisation, would remove tariffs on about US$1 trillion (HK$7.75 trillion) in annual global sales of information and communications technology products, as well as increase annual global GDP by US$190 billion, according to industry estimates.
The US and China are credited with helping revive the stalled talks on ITA expansion after the two governments agreed to a bilateral deal about that pact on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last month.
“We hope that this will be the final round of talks at the WTO to expand the product coverage of the ITA,” John Neuffer, the senior vice-president for global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, told the South China Morning Post.
ITA negotiations were suspended in November last year after China, the world’s biggest exporter and importer of hi-tech goods, refused to trim down the number of products that it wanted excluded from an expanded agreement.
“The Beijing breakthrough paved the way for getting everyone back to Geneva, but there is still significant work to do to bring all 54 parties at the negotiating table to a consensus on a final list of products to be included in the expansion deal,” Neuffer said.