New Delhi, March 29 Member countries intensified efforts to resolve differences regarding further extending the moratorium on e-commerce customs duties on the final day of the 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon, sources said.
While some countries oppose an extension or favor a two-year period, the US is pushing for a longer duration.
The four-day 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) entered its last day on March 29 in the capital city of Cameroon.
India has opposed the extension on multiple occasions. It was last extended for two years at MC13, which was held in Abu Dhabi in 2024. The moratorium or ban will end this month.
The World Trade Organisation members have agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions such as digital downloads and streaming since 1998, and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences.
India is opposing this move, as the country is witnessing an increase in imports of electronic transmissions, mainly of items like movies, music, video games, and printed materials, some of which could fall under the moratorium.
This has implications for revenue, with estimates suggesting that developing countries could lose approximately USD 10 billion per year in tariff revenue. For India, this could be over USD 500 million per year.
This decision has implications for companies such as Amazon and Netflix in the US.
Sources said that talks are ongoing in Yaounde on this issue.
While the profits and revenues of digital companies are steadily increasing, the ability of governments to control these imports and generate additional tariff revenues is being limited due to the moratorium.