 |
 |
17 Jun 2002
Trade ministers from most countries that export high-tech goods have agreed to remove tariffs on hundreds of products by 2000, paving the way for prices on such items to drop. The deal on computer, software and telecommunications products is the crowning success of the World Trade Organization's inaugural ministerial meeting, which ended with a package of measures designed to liberalize trade around the world.
The Associated Press said. U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky announced that 28 nations had formally agreed to join the pact, saying those countries account for 85 percent of the world's high-tech trade. Six other nations said they intended to join the agreement soon.
Once they do, the participating countries will cover 94 percent of the global trade in "information technology" -- much more than the 90 percent that the agreement needed to automatically take effect. The countries would start cutting their tariffs in four phases beginning in July 1997 and ending in 2000.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| © 2024 SPIE Europe |
|
