BEIJING – The Obama administration said Tuesday that it had achieved a breakthrough in negotiations with China to eliminate tariffs on an array of information technology products, from video-game consoles and computer software to medical equipment and semiconductors.

The understanding, reached during President Obama's visit to China, opens the door to expanding a World Trade Organization treaty on these products, assuming other countries can be persuaded to accept the same terms.

U.S. officials predicted a broader deal would be reached swiftly now that some long-standing hurdles with China have been resolved.

"We're going to take what's been achieved here in Beijing back to Geneva to work with our WTO partners," said Michael Froman, the U.S. trade representative. "We're hopeful that we'll be able to work quickly" to conclude an expansion of the Information Technology Agreement.

Early Wednesday, China and the U.S. agreed to a plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.

The agreement includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.

Administration officials said the deal, which was worked out secretly between over nine months, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate pact by 2015.

Obama's new goal is to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. China did not commit to cutting emissions by a specific amount.

New York Times