On December 16, 2015, Canada and 53 other members of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) reached an agreement on the expansion of
the Information Technology Agreement ("ITA"). The result
of the agreement will be the elimination of customs duties and
charges from 201 information and communication technology and
related products (the "Products"). Because the original
ITA dated from 1996, it did not apply to many of the technologies
that have been developed over the past 20 years. The expansion of
the ITA is intended to ensure that the newly innovated Products
receive the same tariff treatment as those that were included in
the 1996 version of the agreement.
The complete process will involve three steps, with some tariffs
being lifted as early as July 1, 2016 and others remaining in
effect for up to three years after that date (the final deadline
for eliminating the tariffs is July 1, 2019, although an additional
delay may be granted for some products under
