Graphic: renjith krishnan Graphic: renjith krishnan
Johannesburg - Global trade leaders have agreed to reduce import charges on 201 information technology products in the first major World Trade Organisation tariff cutting deal in almost 20 years.
“I hereby would like to announce the conclusion of the negotiations on the expansion of trade in information technology products,” Japanese Minister for the Economy Motoo Hayashi told reporters on Wednesday at the trade body’s 10th ministerial conference in the Kenya capital, Nairobi.
The expansion of the Information Technology Agreement, which was originally concluded in 1996, could contribute as much as $190 billion to the global gross domestic product. Annual trade in these 201 products is valued at over $1.3 trillion per year and accounts for approximately 10 percent of total global trade, Roberto Azevedo, director general of the WTO, said.
“It will create jobs and help to boost GDP around the world,” Azevedo said.
The ITA requires participants to eliminate import tariffs on technology products on a most-favoured-nation basis, meaning that any duty-free terms are expected to be applied to all WTO members.
Tariffs on 65 percent of products will be eliminated next year and tariff cuts will be concluded by 2024, Azevedo said.
BLOOMBERG