Taiwan is expected to join the expanded tariff elimination program of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) tomorrow after the nation completes a consultation process with local industrial associations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
“Taiwan’s representative to the WTO will accept the list of the additional 201 IT items for tax exemption and express our willingness to join the expanded zero-tariff scheme during the WTO’s two-day General Council meeting, which starts on Monday [today],” Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said by telephone.
The WTO is scheduled to hold a news conference for the enlarged ITA scheme tomorrow, he said.
Deng said the expanded deal is expected to help Taiwanese companies see a collective reduction in export duties of US$1.14 billion per year, although the government would face a cut in import tariff revenues of US$320 million.
“We estimate the net benefits for Taiwan to reach US$820 million per year after the deal takes effect,” Deng said.
Most of the 25 WTO members involved in the ITA, including the EU, which represents 28 countries in the organization, on Friday last week agreed to eliminate tariffs on 201 products, including next-generation semiconductors, GPS devices, printer cartridges and video-game consoles.
However, five nations — Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Colombia and Mauritius — on Friday asked members for more time to consider the agreement, as they are facing domestic pressure not to join the agreement.
That left the deal short of a quorum, because the total number of countries signing the accord must account for 90 percent of global trade in technology products, while Taiwan alone accounts for 5 to 7 percent of global technology exports, Deng said.
During talks over the past few years, Taiwan insisted that flat panels be included in the expanded list of tariff-free items, because they are one of the nation’s major technology export products, worth US$10 billion in export value annually, the ministry said.
Bureau of Foreign Trade
Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) said that as most ITA members have agreed to the additional items, it is unlikely that Taiwan will continue to insist on the addition of flat panels.
“We are still communicating with domestic flat-panel makers, but we will definitely join the expanded ITA scheme,” Yang said by telephone, adding that the agreement is important to Taiwan even without the inclusion of panel products in the tariff-free list.
Taiwan exports US$90 billion annually of the items that are to be included in the expanded ITA, Yang said.
According to the agreement, Taiwan could see the elimination of duties on 136 items, or 68 percent, of the 201 additional zero-duty items, she said.
The Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association said the exclusion of flat panels from the deal would affect development of the nation’s panel industry, especially as Beijing and Seoul inked a free-trade agreement early this year that is to gradually eliminate export duties for panel products.
“We hope the government signs the cross-strait trade in goods agreement with China as soon as possible to offset the negative impacts on the panel industry due to the Beijing-Seoul agreement,” association secretary-general David Chen (陳文義) said.
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