Wyden Praises Tariff Cuts on High-Tech Goods

WASHINGTON - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., praised a new agreement to reduce tariffs on more than 200 high-tech products, as part of the Information Technology Agreement.

“The deal announced today to cut tariffs on exports of high tech products will deliver a major boost for Oregon innovators, bring new opportunities to Oregon workers, and update the 18-year-old Information Technology Agreement for the Internet Age,” Wyden said. “This is a major step toward knocking down the tariff barriers that hamstring our most innovative companies’ ability to compete overseas.”

The United States reached agreement today with nearly 50 countries to expand the coverage of the WTO Information Technology Agreement are reduce tariffs on high-tech products ranging from next generation semiconductors to GPS devices and computer software.  Semiconductors and related technologies comprise nearly a quarter of Oregon’s exports.  The original ITA entered into force in 1997, and had not been updated for nearly twenty years.  

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