19 WTO Member States, Including Korea, US, and Japan, Agree on 'Tariff-Free Digital Transmission'

"19 WTO Member States, Including Korea, US, and Japan, Agree on 'Tariff-Free Digital Transmission'"

Reuters: "Self-developed plan after e-commerce tariff moratorium failed"

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 each other, Reuters reported on the 7th (local time).

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

In March, the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-14) held in Yaounde, Cameroon, failed to extend the e-commerce tariff-free practice (moratorium). The existing moratorium was valid until March, but the stalemate with Brazil and others opposing it could not be resolved.

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

WTO member countries with large digital economies have hoped for this measure to be permanently institutionalized, stating that it increases predictability for global digital trade.

In this agreement document, the 19 countries expressed regret over the delay in the multilateral moratorium and stated, "Our group of member countries is committed to doing what we can to provide some 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.