The WTO moratorium on ecommerce customs duties could expire: Why it matters

Since 1998, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have regularly extended the moratorium on imposing customs duties on ecommerce. The moratorium is scheduled to end March 2024 unless WTO ministers act. This time, a few countries are determined to end the moratorium and are preparing to introduce tariffs on digitally transferred goods, such as ebooks. If this change comes to pass, what consequences will it have for the global economy, digital trade, and small companies? Why are women projected to be affected more than men? And why should you as an individual consumer care at all?

Joining this episode of Trade Winds are:

HOST

Cecilia Malmström
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)

GUESTS

Devi Ariyani
Executive Director, Indonesia Service Dialogue Council

Katrin Kuhlmann
Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center