The EU has agreed to void tariffs on larger LCD monitors, set-top boxes and multi-functional printers from Taiwan, the US and Japan by June 30 at the latest, according to a statement yesterday from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The announcement follows a ruling by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body in July last year in favor of these countries, which had filed a joint suit against the EU claiming its tax impositions on the three products had violated WTO’s regulations.
NO APPEAL
The EU officially said in September at a meeting convened by the body that it would not appeal the ruling and had since negotiated with the three countries to enforce a reasonable period of time to exempt the taxes.
The so-called reasonable period of time should not exceed 15 months and should begin from the day when the body makes such a ruling.
CONSENSUS
The consensus between the four parties was reached last Thursday and the statement said that it would be implemented by June 30 at the latest.
In September 2008, Taiwan, the US and Japan launched a joint suit against the EU over tariffs imposed on the above mentioned products, charging the EU had broken the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement that gives tariff-exempt status to existing technology products that incorporate new technologies.
LABELING
The EU maintained that monitors with sizes of 19 inches and above, which also have DVI and HDMI terminals, were “TV products” and printers that have scanning and faxing functions should be categorized as “copiers.”
It said set-top boxes with recording and playback features that have built-in memory storage were “multimedia players,” and therefore none were applicable under the Information Technology Agreement.
Tariffs ranging from 6 percent to 14 percent had been imposed on these products, which significantly hurt the price competitiveness of locally made products in the crowded EU market.
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