Taiwan will seek inclusion of 5,824 industrial products on a list for tariff reductions during talks with China on trade in merchandise that are scheduled to start in March next year, an economics official said yesterday.
The Legislative Yuan approved late on Tuesday the controversial Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) Taiwan signed with China in June.
The two sides will initiate negotiations on investment agreements and are expected to start further talks on agreements involving trade in products, trade in services and the establishment of a dispute resolution mechanism by the end of March, as stipulated in the ECFA, the official said.
After the amendments clear the legislature, commodity trade negotiations between Taiwan and China will focus on certain types of products that are given eight-digit numeric codes by the Directorate General of Customs, he said.
These include petrochemical and machinery tools, and automobiles and flat panel display products. There are 8,726 items with the eight-digit codes. Of them, 2,902 items are set to enjoy tariff exemptions under the ECFA’s terms from Jan. 1, leaving 5,824 such products for the next talks, the official said.
According to customs data, Taiwan’s total exports to China of the 539 early harvest items amounted to US$13.84 billion last year, representing 16.1 percent of Taiwan’s total cross-strait exports by value.
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