19 WTO Member Countries Including South Korea, U.S., and Japan Agree on 'Tariff-Free Digital Transmissions'

"19 WTO Member Countries Including South Korea, U.S., and Japan Agree on 'Tariff-Free Digital Transmissions'"

Reuters: "Prepared its own plan after e-commerce tariff moratorium failed

Reuters reported on the 7th (local time) that 19 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including South Korea, the United States, and Japan, have reached their own agreement not to impose tariffs on 'digital transmissions' between them.

According to the agreement document, the 19 countries, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Norway, and Argentina, have decided not to impose tariffs on electronic transmissions between these countries for an 'unspecified period'. This will take effect from the 8th.

At the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-14) held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, last March, the extension of the e-commerce tariff-free practice (moratorium) failed. The existing moratorium's expiration date was until March, but the deadlock with Brazil and other opposing countries could not be resolved.

The e-commerce moratorium is a measure that prevents the imposition of tariffs on cross-border electronic transmissions such as music or video streaming and software downloads, and has been regularly renewed since its introduction in 1998.

Member countries with large digital economies in the WTO have hoped for its permanent institutionalization, stating that this measure enhances predictability in global digital trade.

In this agreement document, the 19 countries expressed regret over the delay in the multilateral moratorium, stating, "Our group of member countries is committed to doing what we can to provide some degree of predictability and certainty to businesses and consumers even in the absence of a multilateral e-commerce moratorium."

They also urged other member countries to join this agreement.