A trillion dollar deal at the World Trade Organisation to reduce tariffs in the vast information technology sector will stand or fall in the next

A deal seems unlikely because of a standoff between South Korea and China, which was refusing all attempts to broker a compromise.

Countries representing 97 percent of global IT commerce are trying to agree on expanding the WTO's Information Technology Agreement. If they pull it off it would be the first global agreement on tariff cuts in more than a decade.

Tarriffs would fall on medical equipment, GPS devices, video games consoles and next-generation semiconductors, cutting more than 200 tariff lines to zero.

Countries negotiating the package have set themselves a goal of reaching an accord by a meeting of the WTO's General Council this week. Although the deadline is an artificial one, the vast majority of states are happy with the deal on the table, and further delay raises the risk that it might unravel.

The Chinese demanded for a large number of exemptions, but after a bilateral deal with the United States is sticking rigidly to the letter of that and refusing to adapt it.

China had refused compromise options put forward by the South Korean delegation and WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo and had not made any suggestions of its own, the same official said.

A senior official at South Korea's trade ministry said there were a few products at issue with China, including LCD screens. It is hoped these differences can be ironed out.