US, China and EU ready to sign up to the biggest global tariff agreement

[CCP]

EU, US and China ready to sign up to global tariff agreement

The US, China and the EU are expected to sign up this week to what would be the biggest tariff agreement struck at the World Trade Organisation in almost two decades.

A weekend breakthrough clears the way for barriers to be dropped globally on more than 200 types of high-tech products.

Negotiations over the 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA) have been stalled since last November, when US president Barack Obama announced a breakthrough in negotiations with China.



Stand-off
That US-China agreement, however, prompted new stand-offs between China andSouth Korea and China and the EU that until this weekend prevented what the global tech industry sees as a badly needed and long-delayed update to the rules governing the trade in everything from video game consoles to semiconductors.


In the deal, the US agreed to further small concessions to China in order to help both South Korea and the EU secure their own deals with Beijing.

The new compromise brokered by the US and WTO director-general Roberto Azevedois due to be brought to the capitals of the 80 governments in the ITA discussions for approval before a Friday deadline.

With all the remaining major players involved in the weekend breakthrough, people close to the negotiations said that deadline was now largely procedural.

“We are confident that all parties will now give formal approval to their participation in what would be the first tariff-elimination deal at the WTO in 18 years,” said US trade representative Michael Froman.



Deadline
In a statement, the EU said it also expected all parties to sign on or before the Friday deadline. Global trade in IT products is worth about $4 trillion annually and the update would see tariffs lifted for goods that make up about $1 trillion of that total.


South Korea had objected to the deal struck by the US and China because it did not remove tariffs on important products such as LCD display panels and lithium ion batteries, according to people close to the negotiations.

The EU and China had also been in a stand-off over a number of categories, including analogue car radios. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015

 

[ahojunk]

Does this mean that the TPP and TTIP are now dead?

I can't see how they are still relevant.

 

[BuddhaPalm]

Does this mean that the TPP and TTIP are now dead?

I can't see how they are still relevant.

LOL the idea of a trading bloc without China was a joke from day one. Now countries like Japan and Vietnam look like fools after their daddy USA sold them out to China at the first chance.

 

[Beidou2020]

LOL the idea of a trading bloc without China was a joke from day one. Now countries like Japan and Vietnam look like fools after their daddy USA sold them out to China at the first chance.

I'm surprised India didn't block this agreement too since they blocked the WTO food agreement last year.

 

[NiceGuy]

Does this mean that the TPP and TTIP are now dead?

I can't see how they are still relevant.

Nope, this agreement only apply for 200 types of high tec products when CN machinery, textile, food products still can not get free tax when export to TPP members.

And US will get the biggest benefit in this deal coz they can sell more Iphone to dumb @zz CNese

 

[JSCh]

WTO: Deal on ITA expansion within reach - China.org.cn
Xinhua, July 20, 2015

Negotiators from 54 WTO members edged close to agreement on Saturday on an accord which would expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and eliminate tariffs on an additional list of roughly 200 products valued at about 1 trillion U.S. dollars in annual trade.

WTO announced in a press release that the products covered by the extension include new generation semi-conductors, GPS navigation equipment and medical equipment, including magnetic resonance imaging products and ultra-sonic scanning apparatus.

WTO added that the list of products and the draft declaration which spells out how the agreement would be implemented have been sent to capitals for review and members have until Friday to give final approval.

"This is a big deal," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo. "The trade covered in this agreement is comparable to annual global trade in iron, steel, textiles and clothing combined. By taking this step, WTO members will help to provide a jump-start to the global economy and underline the WTO's role as the central global forum for trade negotiations."

According to WTO's principle, while not all WTO members participated in these negotiations, all will benefit from the outcome because the participants will scrap duties on imports of these products regardless of which WTO member has produced them.

When the product list and draft declaration are approved, WTO negotiators will spend several months hammering out the technical details and the timetable for tariff elimination. The objective would be for all elements to be completed in time for ministers of those members who are involved in this initiative to sign the ITA expansion agreement at the 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December.

The Information Technology Agreement was finalized in 1997 and covers 80 WTO members. Efforts to expand the coverage of this agreement were launched in 2012. It would be the first tariff-cutting agreement in the WTO for 18 years.