Washington — The Computer & Communications Industry Association joined over 40 other industry associations from around the world in a statement to support the launch of another round of negotiations of the Information Technology Agreement and expand product coverage of one of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) most successful trade agreements.
Since its creation in 1996, the Information Technology Agreement has grown in both participating countries and coverage of world trade in IT products. The recent expansion in 2015 captured $1.3 trillion in ICT trade. According to a study by ITIF, an additional significant expansion of the ITA would add nearly $800 billion to the global GDP over 10 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matthew Schruers:
“Across sectors, the Information Technology Agreement has enabled global trade by eliminating tariffs on ICT trade. With the rapidly developing technology sector, it would be in the interest of all parties to expand ITA coverage to new products to reflect the current market.”