How ITA Expansion Benefits the Chinese and Global Economies
Comprehensively expanding the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) will significantly benefit China's economy and global IT innovation.
The Information Technology Agreement (ITA)—which eliminates tariffs on trade in hundreds of information and communications technology (ICT) products—has been one of the most successful trade agreements undertaken, for the global economy, for ICT industries, and for the nations participating in the agreement. Perhaps no country has benefited from the ITA more than China, which has seen its global share of ICT exports increase from just 2 percent in 1996 (the year the ITA was chartered) to 30 percent in 2012. Yet as some 54 countries now work to expand the product coverage of the ITA (which has not been updated since 1996), China has thus far balked at concluding a comprehensive expansion that would include a range of advanced ICT products. But as this report explains, a robust expansion of the ITA is in both China's interest and that of the global economy.
