• Login
NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
  • Home
  • News
    • General
    • Political
  • Economy
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Banking & Finance
    • Energy
    • Insurance
    • Manufacturing
    • Markets
    • Maritime
    • Real Estate
    • Tourism
    • Transport
  • Technology
    • Telecom
    • Cyber-security
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Tech-guide
    • Social Media
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Opinions
  • Reports
    • Banking/Finance
    • Insurance
    • Budgets
    • GDP
    • Inflation
    • Central Bank
    • Sec/Gse
  • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Travel
    • Environment
    • Weather
  • NRTV
    • Audio
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

WTO set to extend moratorium on e-Commerce tariffs for two years

1 year ago
in Business, Features, highlights, Home, home-news, latest News, Trade
2 min read
0 0
0
118
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

WTO set to extend moratorium on e-Commerce tariffs for two years

The World Trade Organization agreed to extend a moratorium on e-commerce tariffs for two years after marathon negotiations in Abu Dhabi, while failing to secure deals on other contentious trade issues including a crackdown on agriculture and fisheries subsidies.

Speaking at the closing session, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called the WTO a “source of resilience” in a world shaken by geopolitical turmoil. She encouraged negotiators to continue discussions on their unfinished business.

Adding to the challenges at the 13th biennial ministerial of the Geneva-based institution are dozens of elections this year in major economies as incumbent politicians from Brussels to New Delhi feel pressure from farmers, truckers and other workers protesting for relief from inflation and foreign competition.

At the start of the week “I said trying to get achievements gains these headwinds would be tough,” Okonjo-Iweala, whose term ends in August 2025, said during a press conference. “We didn’t achieve all we wanted to, but what we did achieve I think was pretty amazing.”

As the talks ended past midnight after running for 16 hours on Friday, the last-minute pact to preserve the e-commerce moratorium until 2026 was the most important breakthrough. It also surprised some observers who heard European Union officials say just minutes before a draft agreement was announced that the week-long negotiations were headed for total failure.

Still, falling short on agriculture and fisheries may renew criticism that the nearly 30-year-old WTO — with just two major multilateral accords to its credit — is incapable of brokering the required consensus among its 166 members as the global economy fragments into rival blocs and wars in Ukraine and Gaza disrupt international trade.

RelatedPosts

Parliament Adjourns Sine Die After Intense Legislative Session Marked by Reform Calls and Tributes

GACL Terminates Evatex Revenue Assurance Contract Amid OSP Probe

Cyber Security Authority Flags Rising Mobile Data Scam, Cautions Public

“It’s clear that it is often difficult to reach consensus,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission’s vice president for trade. “Despite that, we were very close and there’s a willingness and determination of a vast majority of membership to continue negotiations until it gets over the line.”

India, Indonesia and South Africa had signaled their opposition to renewing the e-commerce moratorium, but supported it in the end. They’re among countries worried about losing control of data flows, as well as the market dominance of US Big Tech companies.

Tariff-Free Internet

About 25% of all global trade is now conducted digitally and it’s expected to continue to rise faster than traditional trade in goods over the next decade. The problem the WTO faces is how to deal with some governments want the authority to collect customs duties from growing sectors of online commerce that are hard to track and measure across borders.

Among the questions raised in today’s e-commerce deal is whether this will be the last two-year extension, which Okonjo-Iweala tried to address.

“We agreed to extend with a date for the moratorium to end at the end of that time, but this gives enough time, enough notice, so that business can have the time to adjust,” she said.

Business groups have warned that allowing the moratorium to lapse would cause widespread uncertainty and raise costs.

“It’s a relief to see the moratorium survive by the skin of its teeth,” said Tiffany Smith, vice president of global trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council in Washington. “Its collapse would be a significant blow to the rules-based trading system.”

Negotiations went beyond their scheduled end on Thursday night as India found itself at the center of the most contentious discussions. Delegates said the world’s most populous nation was blocking a deal on the e-commerce moratorium unless it received one of its main goals — concessions on subsidies for their farmers to meet their domestic food security needs.

Coming into the talks, India said its top priority was a revival of the WTO’s seven-person appellate body, which the US disabled in late-2019 by blocking appointments to empty seats. There was no progress this week fixing it, though the members confirmed their goal to find a solution by the end of the year to address that part of their crippled dispute-resolution system.

“We feel sad that some countries are still obstructing significant outcomes which could have helped less-developed and developing countries gain confidence in the working of the WTO,” Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters this week. “We feel sorry that the agenda of some large corporations prevails over public good.

Source: bloomberg
Via: norvanreports
Tags: e-commerceWTOWTO set to extend moratorium on e-Commerce tariffs for two years
No Result
View All Result

Highlights

Gov’t Reopens Talks With PayPal to Restore Full Service Access in Ghana

Financial Sector Assets up 34.6% in 2024 to GHS 525.59 Billion

Banking Sector Soundness Remains Robust in 2024 Amid Strong Profitability, Adequate Capital Buffers

Sha’Carri Richardson Withdraws from US Trials Following Arrest

From Singuluma to El Kaabi: Can CHAN 2024 Unleash the Next Hat-trick Hero?

Ghana to Welcome King’s Baton Relay on August 8 Ahead of 2026 Commonwealth Games

Trending

Features

Parliament Adjourns Sine Die After Intense Legislative Session Marked by Reform Calls and Tributes

August 2, 2025

Parliament Adjourns Sine Die After Intense Legislative Session Marked by Reform Calls and Tributes Parliament has adjourned...

GACL Terminates Evatex Revenue Assurance Contract Amid OSP Probe

August 2, 2025

Cyber Security Authority Flags Rising Mobile Data Scam, Cautions Public

August 2, 2025

Gov’t Reopens Talks With PayPal to Restore Full Service Access in Ghana

August 2, 2025
Bank of Ghana

Financial Sector Assets up 34.6% in 2024 to GHS 525.59 Billion

August 2, 2025

Who we are?

NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World

NorvanReports is a unique data, business, and financial portal aimed at providing accurate, impartial reporting of business news on Ghana, Africa, and around the world from a truly independent reporting and analysis point of view.

© 2020 Norvanreports – credible news platform.
L: Hse #4 3rd Okle Link, Baatsonaa – Accra-Ghana T:+233-(0)26 451 1013 E: news@norvanreports.com info@norvanreports.com
All rights reserved we display professionalism at all stages of publications

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Energy
    • Insurance
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate
    • Maritime
    • Tourism
    • Transport
    • Banking & Finance
    • Trade
    • Markets
  • Economy
  • Reports
  • Technology
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Cyber-security
    • Social Media
    • Tech-guide
    • Telecom
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Opinions
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Sports
    • Travel
    • Environment
    • Weather
  • NRTV
    • Audio
    • Video

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
NORVANREPORTS.COM | Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.