Guatemala has eliminated duties on Taiwanese exports of bicycles and motorcycles, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said yesterday after a newly amended free-trade agreement between the two nations took effect.
The agreement has been in place since 2006 and was revised earlier this year to remove duties on a number of goods from both nations.
Taiwan is Guatemala’s third-largest source of bicycles and 14th-largest source of motorcycles, a bureau official surnamed Chen (陳) told the Taipei Times by telephone, adding that Guatemala previously levied duties of 15 percent and 10 percent on each product respectively.
In exchange for Taiwan enjoying duty-free exports of bicycles and motorcycles, Guatemala’s annual tariff-free sugar quota, which includes raw and refined sugar, has increased to 125,000 tonnes from an average of about 94,000 tonnes per year, the bureau said.
“Sugar is one of Guatemala’s main exports to Taiwan and the country is also one of our largest sources” of sugar, Chen said, adding that Taiwan imported 100,000 tonnes of sugar from Guatemala last year.
Coffee beans from Guatemala, Taiwan’s biggest source of the product, were already exempt from duties.
In the revised agreement, the bureau also lifted duties on roasted chicory and other coffee substitutes.
Other Guatemalan imports now also exempt from customs duties include mascarene grass, fruit or nut-bearing trees, shrubs, and bushes, the bureau said.
As imports from Guatemala totaled US$417,000 in 2018, the removal of tariffs on such goods would not negatively affect Taiwan’s local industries, but would help solidify the relationship between the two countries, the bureau said.
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