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USIA - Information Technology Agreement Concluded in Geneva, 97-03-26
From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT CONCLUDED IN GENEVA
(39 countries agree to eliminate tariffs) (670)
By Berta Gomez
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- Negotiators from 39 countries announced completion March 26
of the landmark Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which will
eliminate tariffs on semiconductors, telecommunications equipment, software,
computers and other building-blocks of the global information superhighway.
The 39 participants account for 92.3 percent of world trade in such
products, valued at $500,000 million a year. The overwhelming majority of
tariffs will be eliminated by 2000. The agreement, however, allows a
handful of countries to stage their tariff reductions on a few products
through the year 2005.
"The significance of the agreement is without comparison," U.S. Trade
Representative Charlene Barshefsky said in a statement. "At no time in the
history of the trading system have so many countries united to open up
trade in a single sector by eliminating duties across the board."
Participants so far include: Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan),
Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Estonia, the European Union (15 countries),
Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, the Slovak Republic, Switzerland
and Liechtenstein, Thailand, Turkey and the United States.
"The list is bigger than we expected, and it looks like it will get even
bigger," a U.S. trade official told reporters. The Philippines has
announced its intention to submit a schedule of tariff reductions by April
1, while Poland and Panama are making final adjustments to their own
submissions.
"I wouldn't be surprised," the official said, if the list grew to 43
countries by April 14, which is when ITA participants expect to review and
accept any additional members.
When the ITA was put forward by the United States at the World Trade
Organization's Singapore Ministerial in December 1996, it was accepted by
28 countries accounting for some 80 percent of global trade in information
technology. Since then, key participants like Thailand, Malaysia and India
have decided to sign on, contributing to the "groundswell of enthusiasm"
for the agreement, said the official, who spoke to reporters by telephone
from the negotiation site in Geneva.
The official described India's decision to join as the "most surprising"
development since December, given that Indian tariffs on some information
technology products go as high as 117 percent. "I think they were worried
about not being on the list," the official said, adding that countries
increasingly see "that to be competitive, you have to belong to this."
Asked to identify the countries that would have until 2005 to eliminate
their tariffs, the official responded that the staging provisions were set
on a country-by-country basis and are extremely limited. Indonesia, for
example, will accelerate tariff cuts on some products and delay the
reductions on about two dozen other items beyond the year 2000. Other
countries that will enjoy some "minor" extensions on a very limited number
of products include Costa Rica, Korea, Taiwan, the Czech and Slovak
Republics, Malaysia, Thailand, Israel and India.
"In no case will the staging (of the reductions) go beyond 2005," the
official stressed.
The agreement provides for a first review of product coverage in September
1997, and for a continuing opportunity to pursue non-tariff measures that
distort trade in information technology products. Initial tariff reductions
are scheduled to go into effect in July.
In related comments, the official said the United States would continue to
pursue its World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute against the European
Union's recent tariff increases on certain computers and local area network
(LAN) equipment. Although the new ITA would require
those tariffs to be eliminated by 2000, the United States position is that
the higher tariffs violate existing Uruguay Round commitments.
"The United States has already begun to pursue these issues in the WTO
dispute settlement process and consider what other actions might be
appropriate to ensure that the EU meets its obligations," Ambassador
Barshefsky said in her statement.
From the United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at gopher://gopher.usia.gov
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