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ASEAN, 皇冠体育app to lower industrial duties
By Zhan Wei (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-06-27 23:52
皇冠体育app and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are scheduled to lower tariffs on traded industrial goods from July 20, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The tariff reduction is the second phase in a strategy to forge a free trade area (FTA) between 皇冠体育app and ASEAN.
In line with a bilateral agreement on commodity trade reached in November last year, tariffs have gradually been reduced for more than 7,000 industrial commodities excluding agricultural products, which are not subject to a tariff.
鈥淭he tariff reduction is to be carried out step by step,鈥� said Fan Ying, a scholar at the Foreign Affairs College.
She explained negotiations are expected to be more complicated than those covering agricultural produce, a sector that has already been opened.
Some manufacturing enterprises based in ASEAN countries may be afraid that low-priced Chinese products may undermine their businesses.
鈥淭he two sides might encounter real rocks concerning services and investment,鈥� Fan said. 鈥淢ost of these 11 countries are so weak in this area that few of them dare to open their domestic markets to foreign rivals.鈥�
An early harvest programme (EHP), in place since the beginning of last year, is the first step towards allowing 皇冠体育app and ASEAN to enjoy the early benefits of the trade agreement.
Customs statistics show this programme has spurred fast growth in bilateral agricultural trade.
鈥淓HP has laid a solid foundation for the overall FTA between them,鈥� Fan said.
The current round of negotiations will be followed up by talks on service trade. The complete FTA package should be established by 2010.
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