ITA Expansion Negotiations Collapse in Geneva, Says U.S. Negotiator
The Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion plans collapsed in Geneva on Nov. 21, an Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) official and key U.S. negotiator said in a Nov. 21 blogpost (here). U.S. negotiators previously targeted the addition of a host of products and product lines to the agreement among 70 nations (here), but the Chinese refusal to concede coverage areas forced negotiations into suspension, said the ITI official.
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“In a high-level meeting between the United States and China this afternoon, Beijing’s negotiators said they have zero mandate to move off their tepid list of import-sensitive products,” said John Neuffer, senior vice president-global policy at ITI. “Negotiators from all over the world were here and ready to close the deal this week. China has been the spoiler. Its negotiators came to Geneva with a painfully low level of ambition, even though the Chinese would have been massive beneficiaries of a strong ITA expansion outcome.”
Senate Finance and House Ways and Means leaders said in a Nov. 13 joint letter ITA expansion would generate an increase in U.S. IT product exports (see 13111423). Despite a suspension of negotiations in July due to alleged Chinese intransigence, U.S. industry officials expressed optimism that an expansion deal may be struck before or during the World Trade Organization Bali ministerial meeting, slated for Dec. 3-6 (see 13102109). The Chinese, according to Neuffer, maintained a list of sensitive product and product lines that was too long for U.S. negotiators to agree to.
“Global industry has to be thinking through what this collapse foretells for China as a potential participation in other multilateral talks, such as the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA),” said Neuffer in the post. TISA is a pact that would expand trade in services globally from the current 50 participant nations representing 70 percent of global services, said (here) the Coalition of Service Industries. Industry officials, including NFTC President Bill Reinsch, previously said ITA would serve as a “bellwether” for commitment to TISA (see 13100908).