Cheaper TVs, video game consoles, IT and hospital equipment on the way thanks to world trade deal
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An agreement finalised last night at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which will see cheaper high tech products on our shelves by removing tariffs, has been welcomed by European Conservatives and Reformists trade spokesman Emma McClarkin MEP.
The agreement expands the WTO’s 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA), removing tariffs on an agreed list of 201 items, including high technology products such as video games consoles, MRI and CT scanners for hospitals, IT equipment for offices as well as various other technology products. It was signed in Nairobi where WTO members are meeting.
The deal is expected to be worth around $1.3 trillion, which would cover around 10% of total world trade, eliminating over time an average 4% import tax on the covered products.
Under the deal’s terms, tariffs on 65% of products would be eliminated on the 1st July 2016, making up 88% percent of total covered imports. Within three years, this would increase to 89% of tariff lines or 95% of total covered imports, with final full elimination within seven years.
Miss McClarkin, who is in Nairobi attending the ministerial conference, said:
"By next Christmas we will see cheaper goods ranging from games consoles to televisions to life saving equipment like MRI scanners. In our homes, our offices and our hospitals we will benefit from the deal reached in Nairobi.
"This agreement shows just how we all benefit from more open and free trade, and it highlights the relevance of the multilateral trading system. More open trade and lower tariffs bring benefits to everyone across the EU, and the effects of this agreement will be felt positively in everyone's pockets. Christmas has come early in Nairobi."
ENDS
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