The World Trade Organisation's Information Technology Agreement in the 1990s prohibited tariffs on several electronics imports for IT products. India participated in that deal, but seems opposed to join its successor, dubbed the ITA 2, if a policy brief prepared by the state-backed Centre for WTO Studies is any indication. The Economic Times first reported the brief. The brief essentially argues that there is little data to show that the original IT Agreement did anything to improve the Indian IT sector's position, even with value addition on imports. ITA 2 would extend tariff prohibitions on imports like semiconductors and video game consoles, products that India has no realistic prospects of manufacturing. As such, these products draw significant tariffs, something that the Centre for WTO Studies called a crucial source of revenue. "Any binding commitments will erode the much-needed policy space…
