The World Trade Organization E-Commerce Post-Moratorium Landscape for Developing Economies

About the Event

For nearly three decades, members of the WTO refrained from imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions under the WTO e-commerce moratorium. At the WTO’s Fourteenth Ministerial Conference (MC14) in March 2026, members were unable to agree on a further extension, ending the multilateral moratorium—a decision shaped in large part by unresolved concerns over development and industrial policy. Some members have since made separate commitments not to impose these duties through plurilateral initiatives, statements, and bilateral or regional trade agreements. 

Countries are unlikely to impose such duties in the near term, given the practical challenges involved, but the expiry opens the door to new policy approaches. It may also accelerate a shift toward regional, bilateral, and plurilateral arrangements offering duty-free treatment among participating countries, but not others, adding complexity for policy-makers and businesses alike. The timing also matters, as governments are separately negotiating multilateral rules on digital services taxation under the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. 

This webinar examined what the moratorium’s expiry means for digital trade policy and explored the debate over tariff revenue, digital industrialization, and costs for businesses and consumers, while considering the relationship between the moratorium, broader trade commitments, and international tax debates. Panelists shed light on how developing countries can navigate an increasingly fragmented landscape and weigh the policy choices ahead.  

Panel

Moderator:  

• Alice Tipping, Director, Trade and Sustainable Development, IISD

Speakers:

• Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki, Advisor, Trade and Economic Security, Jacques Delors Institute
• Marília Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security, Diplo

This event is part of a series of technical webinars designed to deepen understanding of how policy and regulatory frameworks are evolving to support the growth of the digital economy and digital trade.