Japan to Amend Preferential Tariff System, Another Challenge for China's Export of Textiles

The Ministry of Finance of Japan plans to amend the preferential tariff system, adjusting the preferential tariff rates to between 10% and 15%.

The adjustment plan is scheduled to be submitted to relevant councils and the Government Tax Commission of Japan in the autumn of 2010 to conduct a research, and in 2011, the amendment to the provisional tariff measure act shall be submitted to the Diet of Japan.

The adjusted preferential tariffs will be implemented in the next fiscal year.

Since 1971, Japan began to implement preferential tariff system. Up to April 2009, there were 140 countries and 14 regions enjoying Japan's preferential tariffs, including China.

Under Japan's current framework of tariff preferences, the highest utilization limit for a country is 20%.

As per some media, the main cause of Japan's intending to reduce the ceilings of the preferential tariffs lies in the rapid growth of China's exports to Japan with an annual import value of over JPY 10 trillion.

According to the principal with Guangzhou Customs of China, with the spread of the economic crisis, Japan's trade protectionism is on the rise, the main types of technical trade measures affecting the export of industrial products center around requirements concerning certification, technical standards, environmental protection, and packaging & materials. If Japan further amends the preferential tariffs, it will bring certain impact to China's export.