ITA expansion negotiations

The last round of negotiations in the ITA expansion took place during the first two weeks of December 2015. Unfortunately, a deal was not reached. Capital delegates and Geneva-based delegates from 54 participating countries met in Geneva trying to finalize the long-awaited agreement.

The Ambassador of the EU said, “we brought the negotiations down to a few key issues that are up to the capitals to decide whether they can make it or not, unfortunately we could not get the last step done.”
The negotiations restarted after a long period after the U.S. and China scored a significant breakthrough in November, during a visit by President Barack Obama, when China agreed to provide a revised list of sensitivities.

At the end of the round, participants decided to salvage the great progress achieved during the round and vowed to seek ways to conclude the deal in the coming year with the help of WTO DG Roberto Azevedo.