China’s Ministry of Finance on June 23 announced its decision2 to eliminate tariffs covering over 4,000 products imported from 33 least developed countries (LDCs). The decision supports the Chinese government’s effort to (i) honor its commitments made during the recent high-level meeting of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals conference; (ii) support open, fair and just trade with LDC trading partners; (iii) push other developing countries to follow China’s lead in providing better market access for LDCs; (iv) remove one impasse to the Doha Round negotiations by influencing other developed countries to fully honor commitments to eliminate tariffs for 97 percent of products from LDCs; and (v) promote the global economic recovery. The tariff revocation decision went into effect July 1.
The tariff revocation decision names 26 African countries and 7 LDCs in South Asia and the Pacific. The African nations include Benin, Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia,Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The seven countries in South Asia and the Pacific include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, East Timor, Nepal, Samoa, Vanuatu and Yemen.
Based on 2008 data, the thousands of goods covered under the tariff revocation decision account for 60 percent of Chinese imports in total and more than 98 percent of Chinese imports from LDCs. The affected goods includelivestock and poultry; aquatic products; unprocessed or semi-processed agricultural products; minerals; medicinal materials; household commodities; plastics; leather; wood; textiles; apparel; glass; steel; machinery and electronic products; and furniture, among others.
Since 2001, the Chinese government has granted zero tariff treatment for goods imported from more than 40 LDCs. In addition, the Chinese government has been working to expand this favorable treatment to cover eight additional countries, namely Angola, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives and Myanmar. In 2008, China absorbed 23 percent of total exports from LDCs and became the largest export market for LDCs. The Chinese government believes that the elimination of tariffs on goods from LDCs should help to improve the livelihood of the exporting nation’s citizens, lower costs for Chinese importers, and improve bilateral trade relations between China and these LDCs.