Taiwan Most Prioritized Items on ECFA to Be Exempt from Duty in 2012

Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) recently noted that 95% of the prioritized items on the cross-Taiwan Strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) will be exempt from duties starting in 2012.

Since the beginning of this year when the ECFA became effective, some 539 items have been subject to lower duties, saving Taiwan US$92.06 million in tariffs paid to China, with such savings to grow rapidly as more exports become duty-free starting in 2012.

According to statistics compiled by the BOFT, Taiwan exported to China US$3.09 billion in goods duty-free during the first three quarters of this year, with China shipping US$760 million in goods to Taiwan under prioritized duty reduction, saving US$16.49 million in tariffs.

BOFT chief secretary Kiang Wen-jo said the effects of prioritized duty-reduction is significant with 76 items exempt from duty this year, accounting for 14.1% of the 539 items, with the impact to swell in the next two years as the percentage rises as high as 95% by 2012, and all the prioritized items to be duty-free by 2013.