* Expansion could cut tariffs on $800 billion of world trade
* U.S. could gain 60,000 new jobs from expanded pact – study
* US wary of tackling “non-tariff barriers” in talks
By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) – The United States is
optimistic countries will agree to expand a landmark agreement
that helped triple world trade in semiconductors, computers and
other technology products to $4 trillion over the past 15 years,
a top U.S. official said on Wednesday.
“I’ve been very encouraged by what I’ve been hearing from
other (World Trade Organization) members,” Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative Miriam Sapiro said in an interview. “We want to
do this as quickly as possible. We want to frame this for
success.”
The Information Technology Agreement, which was signed by
the United States and 28 other countries in 1996, eliminated
duties on eight categories of information and communications
technology products, helping to cut costs, increase company
productivity and drive innovation.
The groundbreaking pact now includes 73 countries but still
covers the same products as the day it was signed.
That leaves out hundreds of goods created over the last 15
years, such as GPS systems, flat panel displays and video game
consoles such as Microsoft’s xBox or Sony’s PlayStation
, and many everyday products such as televisions, DVD
players and audio speakers not originally included.
The United States wants to expand the current product list
as much as possible and also bring additional countries into the
pact, Sapiro said, noting that Russia is already set to join
when it becomes a WTO member this year.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a
Washington-based think tank, estimates expanding the pact could
remove tariffs on an additional $800 billion in world trade.
That has the potential to increase U.S. exports $2.8 billion
annually, helping “to create approximately 60,000 new U.S. jobs
throughout the economy,” the ITIF said in a recent report.
An expansion would also help the many developing countries –
which include India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and
Egypt – that are part of the pact, Sapiro said.
The WTO will host a symposium in May to mark the 15th
anniversary of the agreement.
Sapiro, who has been consulting with other WTO members on
the scope of the proposed expansion, was reluctant to say
countries would be ready by that meeting to launch negotiations,
as some in U.S. industry hope.
“We’ll have the chance to celebrate the success and explain
to participants why we think now the time is right for an
expansion of the products. Because it’s been so successful, we
want to make it even more successful,” Sapiro said.
Leaders of the 21-economy Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum, which includes the United States, China, Japan and South
Korea, gave the initiative a significant boost in November by
calling for a broader product list.
The European Union also has been pushing for a more
comprehensive agreement and at least some voices in Europe want
the negotiations to also tackle “non-tariff barriers,” like
government regulations, that impede trade.
U.S. industry, which hopes for an agreement in a year, fears
that could jeopardize the talks, a view Sapiro shares.
“I do believe that adding non-tariff barriers would make
this a much more challenging negotiations. I worry that doing so
would risk a successful negotiation,” Sapiro said.
The United States will continue to work with the EU and
other WTO members to reach consensus on terms for launching an
expansion of the pact, she said.
(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Paul Simao)
