Information technology and e-commerce
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The ITA Committee: 20 years of boosting trade in IT products
The ITA membership has continued to grow and now includes 53 participants representing 82 WTO members. It is expected that participation in the ITA will grow further in the near future.
Taxation of international e-trade: Russian particularities
Tax rates on e-commerce in Russia should remain moderate given the small size of its digital trade operations (so the rise in tax revenues from higher rates would be small) and substantial growth prospects (so future tax revenues from a developed sector could be quite large). The Russian Federation’s (Russia’s) taxation of e-commerce activities presents two important challenges. First consumer goods purchased directly from foreign online sellers enjoy significant tax advantages compared to imports purchased in Russian retail outlets undermining the profitability of Russian importers and reducing tax revenues. Second the value-added tax (VAT) levied on foreign exporters of electronic services creates uncertainty because the legal definition of electronic services is unclear and impedes the operations of multinational companies in Russia because VAT is taxed on intra-firm imports of services. Russian authorities are establishing effective automated systems for collecting taxes and customs duties on cross-border e-commerce calculating VAT compensation to exporters and accounting for receipts from online stores. These systems will help to prevent abuse of the tax system as well as reduce the cost of compliance by firms.
Foreword
There are different ways to analyze the global economy. One is to view it through the lens of growth and structural change in individual economies developed and developing. A second is to use the lens of global value chains (GVCs) the complex network structure of flows of goods services capital and technology across national borders. Both are useful and they are complementary to one another.
Convergence on e-commerce: the case of Argentina, Brazil and MERCOSUR
E-commerce is growing rapidly in Argentina and Brazil and in both countries the share of the population participating in e-commerce transactions exceeds the Latin American average. Both countries have established a legal framework for data protection regulation of the internet consumer protection taxation of e-commerce and contracts and e-signatures. Argentina and Brazil also have submitted proposals for negotiations over the treatment of e-commerce transactions in WTO Agreements and included e-commerce provisions in free trade agreements (FTAs). However different approaches to internal regulation of e-commerce and differences in positions in international negotiations indicate diverging regulatory approaches that will increase legal uncertainty and thus constrain investments and market expansion in the sector. An exception is the regulation of data protection where both countries are following principles laid out in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Further negotiations between the two countries over regulatory convergence for e-commerce could best be undertaken through the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).
Conclusions
Le système commercial mondial a toujours été façonné par le progrès technologique. Non seulement la technologie est un déterminant des coûts du commerce mais encore elle définit quels produits peuvent faire l’objet d’échanges transfrontières et elle influe sur les profils d’avantage comparatif.
The impact of the trade liberalization brought by the ITA
Participants in the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) significantly liberalized trade in information technology (IT) products by reducing the rates of both the bound (the maximum rate that a WTO member can legally levy on a certain product) and most-favoured nation applied tariffs (those applied in practice by governments).
Introduction
Le monde est en constante évolution porté par les innovations technologiques qui influent sur notre façon de vivre et de faire des affaires. L’histoire de l’économie mondiale est intimement liée aux progrès technologiques. L’invention de la machine à vapeur a conduit à la mécanisation de la production la découverte de l’électricité a permis la production de masse et grâce à l’essor d’Internet il est devenu possible de coordonner à distance les différentes étapes de la production ce qui a entraîné la fragmentation de la production et l’apparition des chaînes de valeur mondiales.
Towards a new digital era
This section describes the rise of digital technologies and identifies the technological forces that have helped propel their growth. It examines how digital technologies are changing the economy by giving rise to new markets goods and services and discusses some of the concerns that have arisen in parallel regarding privacy market concentration the impact on productivity and the digital divide. The section also discusses the methodological and data challenges involved in trying to measure the value of digital transactions and digital trade and provides estimates culled from international organizations and national authorities as well as financial reports from a number of well-known firms.
Defining innovation-oriented government policies and their evolution in the digital age
Since the 2008-09 financial crisis industrial employment in some economies has seen accelerated decline and international competition in mature industrial sectors has tightened; the evolution of productivity and wages has slowed; and a new economy enabled by digital technologies has emerged. In this context industrial and innovation policies have undergone renewal and these “new industrial policies” are reflecting a duality inherent to all government policy phases as they aim to address the difficult modernization of traditional industries while also aiming to bring about an adaptation of economies to digitalization.
Prólogo del Director General de la OMC
El comercio y la tecnología están estrechamente relacionados. Desde la invención de la rueda hasta el hallazgo del ferrocarril o la aparición de los contenedores la tecnología ha desempeñado siempre un papel clave en la configuración del comercio y este fenómeno se está produciendo hoy a una velocidad sin precedentes. Estamos viviendo una era de cambios tecnológicos desconocidos hasta ahora y las distintas innovaciones propiciadas por Internet podrían tener importantes repercusiones. La Internet de las cosas la inteligencia artificial la impresión 3D y las cadenas de bloques (blockchain) por ejemplo pueden cambiar en gran medida cómo se comercia quiénes comercian y qué se comercia.
Introduction
Les innovations numériques sont en train de transformer l’économie mondiale. La baisse des coûts de recherche et d’information la croissance rapide de nouveaux produits et marchés et l’émergence de nouveaux acteurs grâce aux technologies numériques promettent de stimuler les flux commerciaux mondiaux y compris les exportations des pays en développement. Dans le même temps les technologies numériques menacent la vie privée et la sécurité dans le monde entier et le retard pris par les pays en développement qui ne disposent pas des outils nécessaires pour être compétitifs dans le nouvel environnement numérique risque de s’aggraver encore. Ce livre qui a été élaboré par les titulaires de chaires de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) les membres du Conseil consultatif et des fonctionnaires du Secrétariat de l’OMC examine l’incidence de l’adoption rapide des technologies numériques sur le commerce et le développement ainsi que le rôle que les politiques nationales et la coopération internationale peuvent jouer pour créer un avenir plus prospère et plus inclusif.
Executive summary
More than two-thirds of world trade occurs through global value chains (GVCs) in which production crosses at least one border and typically many borders before final assembly. The phenomenal growth in GVC-related trade has translated into significant economic growth in many countries across the globe over the last two decades fueled by reductions in transportation and communication costs and declining trade barriers. But at the same time it has contributed to distributional effects that mean that the benefits of trade have not always accrued to all which has at least in part been a driver in the backlash against globalization and the rise of protectionism and threats to global and regional trade agreements. In addition new technological developments such as robotics big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) are beginning to reshape and further transform GVCs. This second GVC development report takes stock of the recent evolution of GVC trade in light of these developments.