China Slaps Prohibitive Tariff on Apple's IPad

Chinese Customs officials are charging a controversial tariff of 1,000 yuan on Apple iPads being brought into China by Chinese travelers or foreigners, Beijing News reported on November15, 2010.

In August, China's General Administration of Customs announced higher tariffs on imported products costing more than 5,000 yuan and began searching baggage and cargo aiming to crack down on what it called illegal trafficking of expensive IT products and luxury goods.

iPads were categorized under the same duty-paid price criteria as notebook computers of 5,000 yuan and slapped with a tariff of 20 percent or 1,000 yuan. According to the newspaper, Chinese travelers are upset, saying it is unfair to apply the rule when iPads can be bought for 3,000 to 4,000 yuan in the U.S. or Hong Kong.

But Chinese customs authorities are unmoved, saying they applied the 5,000 yuan price criteria because iPads have varying specifications and different prices in different regions.