Taiwan to support US in bid to remove new tech tariffs: official

Taiwan will announce its support during the APEC meetings set to take place in Hawaii this week.

According to Chuo, the 21 nation members of APEC account for 70 percent of Taiwan's exports. The island supports all measures that help liberalize and facilitate trade, he said.

The APEC meetings' host nation this year is the United States, which has proposed an expansion of the ITA that is considered by many to be outdated.

According to Chang Chun-fu, deputy director-general of the bureau, a slew of electronic devices such as tablet PCs are outside of the coverage of the current ITA, signed back in 1997.

As a result, Taiwan is supportive of the undertaking and would like to see digital convergence products listed under the agreement, Chang said.

Meanwhile, an expansion of the ITA would also help minimize the negative impact on Taiwan goods of the recently signed U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement, Chuo said.

According to Chuo, it was because of the ITA that many Taiwan high-tech products can be offered at competitive prices in the United States, due to the elimination of tariffs.

Separately, Chuo said Taiwan will also support the environmental goods and services agreement, which lowers tariffs on a variety of green products and services.

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