The WTO E-Commerce Moratorium, MC14, and the Unresolved Question of Digital Tariffs

Surbhi Verma

No 6gnqe_v1, LawArchive from Center for Open Science

Abstract: The moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, adopted by WTO Members in 1998, has evolved from a temporary measure into one of the most contested instruments in international trade law. This paper traces the moratorium's legal history through successive Ministerial Conferences to its expiry following MC14, examines the unresolved definitional dispute over "electronic transmissions," and analyses India's developmental objections alongside the SAARC and Global South predicament. It argues that the moratorium, in its current indefinite form, is not neutral: it advantages technologically advanced economies while constraining the industrial policy space of developing countries, and proposes a path forward centred on definitional clarity, conditional extension, and South-South digital cooperation.

Date: 2026-07-09
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://osf.io/download/6a3e6988ae7a05d726b0da76/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:lawarc:6gnqe_v1

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/6gnqe_v1

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LawArchive from Center for Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by OSF ().