Major States Agree to Maintain E-Commerce Duty Moratorium
After WTO members failed to extend a global moratorium, 23 nations agreed to keep e-commerce duties at zero. The group includes the U.S., UK, and Japan.
A group of nations has reached a separate agreement to maintain a ban on e-commerce customs duties following the failure of the World Trade Organization to extend a long-standing global moratorium. The decision comes after days of intensive talks among trade ministers in the capital of Cameroon broke up on Monday without a consensus. The deadlock was primarily driven by Brazil and Turkey, who blocked a bid to extend the e-commerce moratorium. This moratorium has been a staple of international trade for 28 years, preventing the application of customs duties on digital transmissions. In the wake of the failed negotiations, 23 countries signed a separate agreement to refrain from imposing such duties on one another. This group includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico. The WTO, which consists of 166 members, requires total consensus to finalize global agreements. While the broader membership is set to revisit the topic at a meeting in Geneva in early May, the current landscape remains fragmented. It is not yet clear if any countries have already moved to implement new duties that could affect digital downloads and streaming services.
