WTO May Extend E-Commerce Import Duty Moratorium

Pig Hogger writes "A meeting of World Trade Ministers would seem to propose an 18 month extension of the duty break that currently applies to cyberspace. But the fact is, the duty break only applies to what is transmitted electronically, so therefore imposing duties on such would essentially be unenforcable by customs officials... However, it is being proposed by the US that such a duty exemption be extended to the 'physical equivalent' of goods such as digital music and software. Can you spell MEDIA?" The story's from Fox News.

Comments

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[Signal 11]

*click* *click*
I'm outside the US!

*click* *click*
Now I'm back in!

*click* *click*
Outside the US again!

What are you gonna do, tell my legions of electrons to stop at the router for an inspection? You'll find they're largely negatively charged from being spammed alot, but little else...

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Privatise sales tax

[cybaea]

Historically duties and sales taxes comes from the ancient marketplace. The sellers would pay a small fee to the market which would help to promote it and, crucially, guarantee and enforce a certain standard and a consistent set of rules for trade. (Big) Government has taken over the role as the overseer of trading standards and as the guarantoor of the order of the "marketplace". It has also taken the market tax.

However, in the internet age this approach is looking increasingly strange. I, as a consumer, can buy goods anywhere at the click of a mouse, and the government can not hope to regulate all and every market. And even if I knew the physical location of the seller (not a trivial thing) and even if the local government enforced a reasonable set of trading standards (obviously not true everywhere), it would be very difficult and expensive for me to actually seek redress in a local court.

The solution, in my opinion, is to return to the medieval market arrangement. Let us have private markets which regulate themselves, and let the consumers decide which markets to deal in. It is not a completely alien idea: most stock markets operate in this way (even if they are not exactly free from government regulation) and most of the online markets (e.g. e-bay, amazon, ...) have at least some rules and attempts at consumer protection.

The bad news for govenrment is that it will loose a lot of revenue. But it will also loose some of the responsibility (if it can ever give up power!) and therefore, presumably, costs. In the future governments will increasingly have to rely on taxing immobile value like land and buildings. Trade and people are both becoming too mobile.

Incidently the UK has a funny half-way house where I as a consumer can choose to sue my UK credit card company instead of the retailer for any disputes over a purchase. Interesting: as money become increasingly a branded commodity is this the way forward?