Lawmakers in the United States want the US Trade Representative (USTR) to press for an extension of the WTO’s digital trade moratorium. A bipartisan group of US congressmen has encouraged US Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press for an extension of a tax ban on digital trade that has been in effect since 1998 during World Trade Organization (WTO) talks this week.
Thirty-four US lawmakers, led by Democratic Representative Suzan DelBene and Republican Representative Darin LaHood, expressed concern about the crucial issues at hand. they are worried whether renewing a moratorium on tariffs on digital goods like e-books, movies, and video games, as well as digital services like emails, texts, and software would have significant consequences for the US.
“Failure to renew the moratorium, as we have done for more than two decades, would jeopardize the strength of the American economy, employment, and creativity,” they wrote to Tai in a letter, as reported by Reuters on Friday. The congressmen emphasized in their letter that commerce in digital goods and services had become increasingly important to American workers and businesses. It included many small enterprises that used digital technologies to export their goods and services internationally.
One senior USTR official voiced hope that the moratorium might be prolonged and stated that opponents had been warned that they would damage developing nations as well.
If India and other nations succeed in ending the moratorium, they would be free to impose tariffs on industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, entertainment, software, and financial services. It would further be disrupting supply chains and raise consumer costs, according to the lawmakers.
“India cannot be pressured into signing an agreement on any issue at the World Trade Organization” warned Piyush Goyal, the Indian Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, as he met with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in Geneva, Switzerland on Sunday. He met with trade ministers from more than 160 nations in Geneva to discuss trade concerns for the first time since the epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This week, more than 100 trade ministers from the WTO’s 164 members will convene in Geneva, but the 27-year-old organization is still beset by problems ranging from Russia’s conflict in Ukraine to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala voiced cautious hope that one or two global agreements may be completed this week but noted that there were still obstacles to surmount.
