WTO talks in Yaounde end in deadlock over e-commerce customs duties

World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Yaounde ended early Monday without agreement on the core issues of reform, agriculture and the renewal of a global ban on customs duties for e-commerce, after deep divisions blocked a deal.

Among the setbacks, global trade ministers failed to extend the long-running moratorium under which WTO members refrain from applying levies on cross-border digital transmissions, a blow for developed countries and for Washington in particular.

“We worked hard,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the conference.

Four days of intense negotiations in the Cameroonian capital had been scheduled to conclude around midday Sunday, but the closing ceremony was repeatedly delayed as countries scrambled to reach some kind of agreement.

Early Sunday, bleary-eyed negotiators had emerged from an all-night session with a draft text in hand, indicating a minimal deal on reform was in reach, according to diplomatic sources and experts.

That prospect evaporated when Brazil made a last-minute intervention, blocking a text on the e-commerce moratorium to protest the lack of progress in separate talks on agriculture, the sources told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The 166-member WTO has been trying for years to establish a programme of work for negotiations on agriculture, but the issue remains highly sensitive in many countries.

Going into Yaounde, countries had set the bar low — only hoping to issue a joint declaration aimed at laying the groundwork for future negotiations.

Economic turmoil

The main focus of the discussions in Yaounde, which took place against a backdrop of heightened trade tensions and global economic turmoil linked to the Middle East war, was on reform.

Ministers and delegates had been tasked with developing an action plan to revitalise a WTO weakened by geopolitical strains, stalled negotiations and rising protectionism.

The organisation, which struggles to reach agreements because of the requirement for consensus, must undergo far-reaching reforms to emerge from a deep crisis that has raised questions over its central role in regulating international trade.

Any advance on reform was contingent on resolving the recurring question of the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions — in place since 1998 and with its renewal discussed at every ministerial meeting since then.

Members this time failed to reach a deal, allowing it to lapse on Monday.

The United States had even been pushing for the moratorium to be made permanent, something many developing countries — India chief among them — have balked at over fear of losing tax revenues.

Washington had lowered its expectations over the course of the talks, with an agreement appearing to emerge on Sunday paving the way towards a five-year extension.

But Brazil did not want to go beyond two years, the country’s top diplomat said on X.

The expiration of the moratorium does not automatically trigger tariffs on digital trade, since WTO members can continue to individually choose not to impose customs duties on online goods and services ranging from e-books and music to telemedicine.