U.S. and allied countries propose plurilateral e-commerce pact as WTO deadlock with Brazil and Turkey deepens

The U.S. and a group of countries are planning to push ahead with their own moratorium on e-commerce duties if Brazil and Turkey continue to oppose an extension of a global deal at World Trade Organization talks on Wednesday, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The moratorium, originally agreed in 1998 and regularly renewed since, bars duties on cross-border electronic transmissions such as streaming music or films and downloading software, and is a priority for WTO members with large digital economies including the U.S., the European Union, Canada, and Japan. The draft text proposes that beginning May 8, the co-sponsors would agree among themselves not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions for an unspecified period, with support so far from countries including South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general for policy at the International Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters that failure to restore the multilateral moratorium would damage the WTO's credibility, signaling that “WTO rules are slowly eroding away.”