The Government of Canada announced the conclusion of negotiations on the expansion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA).
The expanded Information Technology Agreement (ITA) will eliminate tariffs on 201 information and communication technology (ICT) and related products. Under the expanded ITA, the signatories to the agreement will eliminate all tariffs on these products imported from all WTO members within a maximum of seven years, with a majority of tariffs eliminated immediately upon implementation of the agreement. Implementation of the expanded ITA is envisaged for July 1, 2016, subject to the completion of domestic implementation procedures by each participant.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is ending tariffs on imports including game consoles, TVs, GPS receivers and advanced chips from July 2016. The tariffs in certain countries as high as 35 percent on products such as video cameras will be phased out over seven years under an agreement finalized.
The vast majority of the savings will take effect July 2016, when tariffs are abolished on around 130 categories of IT equipment.
By 2019, 95 percent of imports affected by the changes will be tariff-free, with all 201 product categories covered by the agreement being exempted within seven years. Other products that will become tariff-exempt include touch screens, telecommunications satellites, tools for manufacturing printed circuits and some medical products.
The WTO Ministerial Declaration on the expansion of trade in information technology products is available here.