Pursuing an ITA-3 to Bolster Global Economic Growth and Opportunity

The Information Technology Agreement (ITA), through its initial launch in 1996 and 2015 expansion, has proven one of the World Trade Organization’s most successful plurilateral trade agreements. The ITA has played a catalytic role in expanding trade in and lowering the prices of the information and communications technology (ICT) goods, including semiconductors, powering the modern global digital economy as well as giving rise to the emergence of global value chains for ICT production. Yet technologies continue to evolve, and now ICTs are found at the core of an ever-increasing range of products, from the industrial robots and 3D printers driving the global smart manufacturing revolution to medical devices and diagnostic equipment improving personal health, to energy-efficient technologies like storage batteries and smart meters that are reducing CO₂ emissions and helping the environment. As such, it’s time to pursue an ITA-3 expansion that would bring over 250 new products into the ITA.

ITIF and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) hosted a webinar highlighting a new report showing how ITA-3 expansion can bring significant benefits to global and individual economies alike.