Crunch WTO talks in Yaounde failed to agree on an extension of a years-long moratorium exempting e-commerce from customs duties, dealing a setback to developed countries and to Washington in particular.
The moratorium, which has been renewed every two years since it was introduced in 1998, is now set to lapse on Monday.
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Its expiration does not automatically trigger duties on digital trade, since WTO members can continue to individually choose not to impose customs duties on online goods and services ranging from e-books and music to telemedicine.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala last Wednesday called for the Yaounde meeting to “launch the next chapter of the multilateral trading system” as ministers gathered in the Cameroonian capital for a key conference starting last Thursday, amid global economic turmoil linked to the Middle East war.
“I think that’s because it’s tense in the global trading system.”
Okonjo-Iweala called for the Yaounde meeting on Wednesday to “launch the next chapter of the multilateral trading system”.
She slammed “the unilateralism we have been seeing”, decrying the “collective failure” of WTO members over the years to confront their concerns and frustrations.
AFP
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