Tech industry presses WTO to extend data tariff waiver

The global tech industry is pushing the World Trade Organization (WTO) to exempt data streams from international tariffs, saying that failure to do so will undermine an already threatened global recovery.

The 164 members of the WTO will present their views on the issue this Wednesday (15), the last scheduled day of a four-day ministerial conference.

Keisal Peters, trade minister for St Vincent and Grenada, who is leading the discussions, told the conference that disagreements remained. As time goes on, WTO members should consider an extra meeting, he added.

The WTO agreed in 1998 to a moratorium on e-commerce tariffs and has repeatedly extended it at ministerial conferences that the trade body holds every two years.

Now India, Indonesia and South Africa are threatening to block a new extension, sources close to the WTO negotiations said. This raises the prospect that tariffs could be imposed on data flows such as music streaming and financial transactions.

That possibility has prompted 108 associations of tech companies, including groups from India and Indonesia, to write to the WTO urging members to renew the moratorium, saying failure to do so will undermine the global recovery.

Small developing countries, they claim, would miss the chance to increase their digital competitiveness.

John Neuffer, chief executive of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said tariff-free data streams are essential for countries that want to attract foreigners.

“We heard alarms that things were in trouble, with much more risk of the moratorium not being extended,” Neuffer said. The risk is that a wave of countries will impose tariffs.

Studies have shown that the benefits of tariff revenue would be offset by economic losses, he said.

An EU official said countries favoring an extension of the moratorium were still waiting for a multilateral deal. They still weren’t close to finding a plan B.