Taiwanese companies save $122m US in duties in 2011

Taiwan enterprises saved more than 122 million US dollars in tariffs last year following an economic pact signed with the Chinese mainland, which grants tariff reductions for goods from each side, Taiwanese authorities said Thursday. "Tariffs for 267 commodities from Taiwan were reduced after the pact took effect. This year, tariffs will be exempted for another 186 commodities," said Sean Chen, a senior Taiwanese government official. Chen made the remark after hearing a report on the effect and future of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a pact signed in June 2010 between Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and its mainland-based counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. Noting that the agreement has had no obvious negative impact on the island's industries, Chen suggested concluding further cross-Strait negotiations regarding the ECFA as soon as possible in order to ensure the full effect of the pact's "early harvest" program, a section of the pact that ensures reduced tariffs for certain goods imported from both sides. According to the island's economic administration, tariffs on 94.5 percent of the goods and services included in the programme will be reduced to zero.