Parties to the Information Technology Agreement should come together...

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, said trade associations in a Sunday statement (http://bit.ly/1pCRhwU). Groups including CEA, the CompTIA, CE Retailers Coalition, DigitalEurope and Entertainment Software Association said the expansion deal would eliminate tariffs on more IT products, and “help restore confidence” in the World Trade Organization, following the recent collapse of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The U.S. and China are two of the 70 nations involved in the expansion talks, but each side blames the other for not putting appropriate concessions on the table. “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 has called for the expansion talks to wrap up by November. The location of the APEC meeting may help break the U.S.-China deadlock, said John Neuffer, senior vice president-global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council, in a blog post Sunday (http://bit.ly/10fsbiV). “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.” CEA President Gary Shapiro said in a statement Monday that 82 signatories globally, representing tens of thousands of businesses, “are rallying together to support trade negotiators from all member economies in the ITA.” It marks an “opportunity now to come together, bridge gaps and finalize this negotiation so that a huge win may be announced in Beijing at the November APEC Leader’s meeting,” Shapiro said. The ITA hasn’t been updated since its creation 16 years ago, CEA said. An expanded ITA “could remove tariffs on an estimated additional $800 billion in information and communication technology trade globally,” it said.