APEC leaders agree to Slash green tariffs

APEC leaders meeting in Hawaii have committed to cutting tariffs on environmental goods to no more than 5 per cent by the end of 2015. The United States is pushing to reduce tariffs on so-called green goods such as solar panels. The leaders issued a joint statement in which they said they would also eliminate non-tariff barriers that impede trade in green products. "Taking these concrete actions will help our businesses and citizens access important environmental technologies at lower costs, which in turn will facilitate their use, contributing significantly to APEC''s sustainable development goals," the statement said. APEC economies will make a list of environmental goods next year and reduce tariffs, the statement said. The statement also set an aspirational goal of reducing the bloc''s energy intensity - the amount of energy used compared with the economy - by 45 per cent by 2035. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the decision is a significant step forward globally. "APEC has broken into a new frontier and that is the frontier of green growth," she said. "If we can reduce our energy intensity, then we are doing the right thing for our environment and our world. It means less carbon pollution. It also means more efficient production and more efficient products for people," she added. Gillard also praised the tariff reduction, saying it would be good for Australian producers who make things like water-saving shower heads and wind turbine gear boxes. "We will experience the benefit of being able to get environmental products which we produce into the economies of APEC with less of a tariff load," she said. "We do not have tariffs of more than 5 per cent on any environmental good. What that means is that we will not experience any of the pain that would come from those tariff reductions," she noted.