Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed to eliminate tariffs on 201 product categories of technology goods on Friday.
The tariff exemption includes medical devices, navigation equipment and advanced semiconductors. The agreement will benefit manufacturers, consumers and the global economy.
Forty-nine countries out of the 161 WTO members have agreed and signed the deal, including the United States, the European Union, China and South Korea. International trade in those goods totals about $1.3 trillion a year, or about seven percent of all trade, The New York Times reports.
"Today's agreement is a landmark. Annual trade in these 201 products is valued at over $1.3 trillion per year, and accounts for approximately 7 percent of total global trade today. This is larger than global trade in automotive products - or trade in textiles, clothing, iron and steel combined," said WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo, according to Associated Press on MSN.
Once implemented, the agreement will require countries to eliminate trade tariffs on most new-generation semi-conductors, satellite navigation systems, medical products that include magnetic resonance imaging machines, machine tools for manufacturing printed circuits, telecommunications satellites and touch screens within three years starting in 2016, the WTO said.
"This deal will cut costs for consumers and business, in particular for smaller firms, which have been hit especially hard by excessive tariffs in the past," EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said in a statement, according to Seattle PI.
Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods.
