WTO Backs U.S., Japan Complaint Over EU Import Duties on Electronic Goods

[pampango]

Source: Bloomberg

The European Union broke global trade laws by imposing import duties on $11 billion of high-tech electronic goods such as computer monitors, the World Trade Organization ruled, backing a complaint by the U.S. and Japan.

The two governments and Taiwan said the EU is undermining a 1996 deal to scrap tariffs worldwide on technology goods by arguing that some new products fall outside the scope of the agreement. They complained at the Geneva-based WTO in May 2008 and, after failing to resolve the spat in the ensuing weeks, asked the trade arbiter to rule on the case three months later.

The dispute concerns the Information Technology Agreement, which requires WTO members to give duty-free treatment to imports of information-technology goods. The case against the EU involves three products -- computer monitors, cable converter boxes and multifunction printers -- all developed after 1996.

The EU argued that flat-panel computer screens that show videos are televisions, not computer components. These monitors, along with cable converter boxes with Internet access, face 14 percent customs duties. The EU also told WTO judges it considered printers with other capabilities, such as faxing or scanning, to be copiers rather than printers and therefore subject to a 6 percent tariff.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-16/wto-backs-u-s-japan-complaint-over-eu-import-duties-on-electronic-goods.html

[SILVER__FOX52]

1. Hey, What good is an agreement if you...........

can't break it.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Well if its like the bananas

they'll still be arguing in 10 years time.

[L0oniX]

3. Indeed, I have been paying the tariff for electronics from Italy and Germany.

I purchase midi installation kits from both countries. I also have to pay an exchange fee.