China, US reach consensus on resuming ITA talks
Updated: 2014-11-12 17:29
(Xinhua)
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BEIJING - China and United States has reached consensus on resuming negotiations on updating the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) by including more products, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.
The two sides will work with other participants of the ITA to put an end to negotiations as soon as possible, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
ITA expansion has a significant commercial value, as consensus had been made on tariff exemptions for about 200 items before the U.S. dropped out of the negotiations a year ago.
"The slashing of tariffs for those products will strongly promote global trade growth and the development of the information technology sector," the ministry said.
If an agreement on updating the ITA can be made, it will become the first agreement on tariff cuts since the establishment of the WTO, and would boost confidence in the WTO's function in the area of multilateral negotiations, according to the statement.
