Overview
- At the Yaoundé ministerial, which broke up early Monday, members failed to renew the 1998 ban on duties for electronic transmissions and the related TRIPS non‑violation complaint safeguard expired.
- Brazil and Turkey blocked longer extensions sought by the United States after a four‑year plan with a one‑year buffer fell short, reflecting concerns in some developing countries about lost tariff revenue and policy space.
- With the moratorium gone, governments can now tax software downloads, streaming and other cross‑border digital deliveries, a shift businesses warn could raise costs and complicate compliance for users and firms.
- U.S. trade chief Jamieson Greer said he will work with partners outside the WTO and disclosed he had secured pledges from dozens of countries not to levy tariffs on U.S. digital transmissions.
- Talks will resume in Geneva using draft reform texts, after India blocked adding the Investment Facilitation for Development pact to WTO rules and about 66 members advanced a separate baseline digital trade deal outside full consensus.