The World Trade Organization (WTO) e-commerce Moratorium keeps digital trade tariff-free, cutting costs and barriers for small businesses, creators and entrepreneurs worldwide. To keep the digital economy open, affordable and accessible for all, this vital commitment must be renewed at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026.
For over 25 years, members of the WTO have upheld a vital rule: no customs duties on electronic transmissions.
Known as the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions, or e-commerce Moratorium, this agreement ensures digital trade can flow freely across borders – without tariffs, without red tape and without added cost.
Millions of small businesses, entrepreneurs and independent creators benefit from a borderless digital economy to compete, grow and reach customers across borders. From cloud-based tools to apps, digital content and services helps people connect, create and earn a living.
Losing the Moratorium would fragment the digital economy, replacing open access with a patchwork of national rules. It would drive up the cost of digital tools and services, with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and consumers in developing countries paying the highest price. Digital growth would slow, competitiveness would decline and affordable access – where it matters most – would be harder to achieve.
At the same time, businesses would face more red tape and higher compliance costs, while governments gain little additional revenue. Digital trade and innovation would be disrupted, closing doors to global markets. And with no clear way to tax ‘data at the border’, uncertainty – both legal and technical – would deepen.
Clarity and lower trade barriers that give businesses the confidence to invest and grow across borders.
A reliable policy environment, so that business can plan, trade and innovate without disruption.
A level playing field that lets small players export, scale, and innovate – generating far more revenues than tariffs ever could.
Affordable digital trade that keeps MSMEs connected, competitive and part of the global economy.
Business organisations around the world signed the Global Business Statement, calling for WTO reform and renewal of the e-Commerce Moratorium
As the global voice of business, we know what’s at stake. That’s why at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in March 2026, we are calling on governments to renew and permanently adopt the Moratorium to ensure a digital economy that is open, affordable and accessible for everyone, everywhere.
Your voice makes it stronger. Governments need to hear from businesses, creators and innovators like you. Add your story, share this message and help show why keeping the digital economy open matters.
“The Moratorium is a fundamental assurance that essential technology remains accessible,” Segun H. Olugbile argues. “For many African MSMEs, it is the difference between scaling up and standing still.”
Segun H. Olugbile
Cofounder & Chief Executive Officer
Data Analytics Privacy Technology Ltd
Nigeria
“A predictable digital economy made it possible for me to enter international markets and achieve this growth.”
Camilo Arturo González Peña
Founder and General Manager, Vegan Mixes S.A.S. BIC
Colombia
“Data is like oxygen for our company… taxing oxygen would suffocate innovation and growth”
Firnando Buenayre Sirait
Chief Executive Officer
Hara
Indonesia
“In Fiji, we have a population of less than a million people. We can only grow if we can offer our services internationally and that can only happen through digitalisation.”
Sagufta Salma Janif
Co-Founder/Lead Consultant
Straw-Hat Consultancy
Fiji
“If digital tools become more expensive, MSMEs don’t just slow down – they are pushed out of the market. From my experience supporting over 100 MSMEs, affordable digital access is not optional; it determines who survives in the digital economy.”
Worawut Saibua
Chief Executive Officer
Brandnista Company Ltd.
Thailand
Unless the Moratorium is renewed, it will expire by the conclusion of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference, which is taking place 26-29 March 2026 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. WTO members will need to agree a ministerial decision, which will be adopted at the close of the conference.
Digital trade is much more than e-books or software. It underpins the operations of almost every modern business. Manufacturers rely on cloud computing for design and logistics, farmers use apps for weather and market data and retailers depend on online platforms to reach customers.
Tariffs on electronic transmissions would increase costs across sectors and disrupt complex global supply chains. MSMEs in particular rely on affordable digital services to innovate, expand exports and create jobs. If digital tariffs raise the price of these essential tools, the ripple effects will hurt the broader economy and everyday consumers.
Following the close of the World Trade Organization's 14th Ministerial Conference, ICC has issued a statement expressing concern at the failure of WTO Members to reach a concrete political agreement at a time of real strain on the global economy.
Ahead of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), ICC calls on members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to launch a structured, time-bound WTO reform round and preserve the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions – essential steps to restore stability and confidence in global trade.
At the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference, ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO presented WTO Director‑General Ngozi Okonjo‑Iweala with a Global Business Statement on behalf of 236 business organisations worldwide. The statement calls for a time‑bound WTO reform process and the renewal of the e‑Commerce Moratorium, underscoring the urgency felt across the global business community for a well‑functioning multilateral trading system that meets the realities of the 21st century.
Delivering remarks to participants of the ICC-World Trade Organization Business Forum, ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO called on governments to act decisively, warning that inaction at this pivotal moment could deepen economic instability and erode the foundations of global trade. Speaking alongside WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Cameroon Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana Mr Denton said that doing nothing at MC14 would not preserve the status quo but entrench dysfunction.
ICC is among over over 100 business associations calling on World Trade Organization (WTO) Members to make the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions permanent. An accompanying report, released ahead of MC14, details how the Moratorium underpins global digital trade, lowers costs for businesses and enables MSMEs to participate in the digital economy.
New ICC brief outlines why tariffs on cross-border services are unworkable and what policymakers should do instead.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has joined a global coalition of industry associations in a united call to renew the pivotal digital safeguard.
In this series of joint policy briefs, ICC and the International Trade Centre (ITC) address topical trade policy issues from a development perspective, their potential and practical implications for business, particularly micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses, and make policy recommendations.
