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Updated Friday, July 30, 2010 11:33 am TWN, Reuters

EU considers big tariff cuts to help manufacturers weather economic crisis

BRUSSELS -- European Union countries are in a deepening dispute over an Italian proposal to temporarily drop import tariffs on dozens of raw industrial goods, a move supposed to help EU manufacturers weather the economic crisis. The Italian proposal was put to the European Commission, the EU's executive, several months ago, prompting the Commission to ask other EU member states for their input.

As a result, the Commission has now compiled a list of 92 products from which tariffs could be cut, sparking a row between member states who support the move and those who say doing so would damage their own manufacturing industries.

The Commission's list, seen by Reuters, covers products in the steel, cosmetics, shoemaking, textile, furniture and car-manufacturing industries, among others. Italy, which has a large manufacturing base that imports raw materials from the likes of China, Brazil and Russia, using them to produce higher-value goods, estimates savings for EU firms of 2 billion euros (US$2.6 bln) a year if the tariffs are cut.

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