On November 10, 2014, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release announcing significant progress towards the elimination of duties on information technology products between 56 World Trade Organization (WTO) members, as a result of recent negotiations between the U.S. and China. The negotiations to expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) came to a halt in December, 2013, due to disagreements over the product scope to be covered by the arrangement.
According to the release, “Since that time, the United States and China have been working to close differences, but without a breakthrough sufficient to resume the plurilateral negotiations in Geneva. That finally changed here last night with an agreement between the U.S. and China that we expect will pave the way for the resumption of ITA negotiations in Geneva, and their swift conclusion.”
Upon successful completion, industry expert expect the ITA to:
- Eliminate tariffs on roughly $1 trillion of global sales of IT products.
- Contribute to global GDP by an estimated $190 billion.
- Support up to 60,000 additional U.S. jobs in technology and manufacturing.
- Boost productivity around the world, particularly in developing countries
The ITA would be the first significant tariff-cutting WTO arrangement in 17 years.
The press release can be accessed online at:
http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/speeches/2014/November/Froman-Announces-Major-Breakthrough-Negotiations-Eliminate-Tariffs-on-IT-Products
