FKI urges revision of WTO Information Technology Agreement with global economic and industrial organizations

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] On the 16th, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced that it sent a letter to the World Trade Organization (WTO) urging the implementation of expanded revision negotiations for the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), jointly with 43 global economic and industrial organizations including the World Semiconductor Council (Korea, USA, Japan, Taiwan, etc.), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Digital Europe, and the World Information Technology and Services Alliance.

The WTO Information Technology Agreement is an agreement among WTO member countries on major ICT products and components such as computers, telecommunications equipment, and semiconductors. Since its initial conclusion in 1996, a second revision (ITA-2) expanding the scope of covered items was made in 2015. The global economic and industrial organizations expressed strong support for the ITA expansion initiative (ITA-3), which is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of WTO trade agreements. They also pointed out as a problem that no new items have been added to the agreement in the seven years since the second revision, despite the rapid development of the ICT industry and technology.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), leading the ITA-3 revision, cited a report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), stating that the expanded revision of the ITA will contribute to productivity improvements in countries participating in the global ICT supply chain, particularly benefiting developing countries such as ASEAN nations. The ITIF report analyzes that ITA-3 should reflect new technologies currently driving the global digital economy transformation (next-generation semiconductors, industrial robots, 3D printers, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc.), and that it will bring about approximately $200 billion in economic benefits to the U.S. economy, an increase in ICT product exports (about $3.5 billion), and the creation of about 78,000 new jobs.

An FKI official stated, “As Korea actively participates in the global ICT value chain, we judged that it is necessary to actively engage in the ITA-3 initiative to reflect new technologies and expand exports and imports, which is why we participated in the joint letter.”