WTO ministerial conference ends without deal to extend e-commerce tariff ban in place since 1998

The World Trade Organization's 14th ministerial conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon ended without an agreement to extend the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, allowing the ban to expire at the end of March after being renewed every two years since 1998. The moratorium's collapse comes as digital commerce now accounts for more than half of all global services exports, with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala indicating that negotiations could continue at WTO headquarters in Geneva. The International Chamber of Commerce warned that the failure to restore the ban risks adding policy uncertainty to an already fragile global economy, calling a renewed moratorium an “immediate priority” as digital services remain one of the few growth drivers in the current trade environment.