National interest trumps global trade

The Abu Dhabi conference highlights any progress for India at the WTO hinges on renewed US engagement in the trade body

- AJAY SRIVASTAVA

The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded in Abu Dhabi on March 1 with few incremental outcomes. The results indicate a shift in the focus of major economies, such as the United States, towards their national industrial strategies, leading to a reluctance to advance on key issues that could conflict with these objectives.

At MC13, WTO members debated issues related to e-commerce, services, agriculture, fisheries, investment, and dispute settlement for five days. Let us explore the contrasting agendas, outcome for each issue, and their significance for India.

E-commerce: The main issue revolved around whether countries dia should impose import taxes on digital products such as movies, apps, games, software, music, and videos. In 1998, WTO members agreed not to charge import duties on digital transmissions for two years to facilitate the growth of the emerging digital market. This agreement has been extended every two years since then. Developed countries prefer to keep digital transmissions duty-free to benefit their tech companies, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix. However, developing countries, including Indonesia, India, and South Africa, argue that as business shifts online, they lose traditional revenue and control over digital trade. The WTO members at MC13 decided to continue not charging duties on digital products until March 31, 2026, or the next WTO meeting, whichever comes first.

Services: Country-specific domestic regulations (DR) on services pose major obstacles to international trade in services. Developed countries have established comprehensive regulatory frameworks, such as the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform (2005) and the OECD ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA V Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance (2012), to make the trading of services easier. Now, they want others to use these.