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Companies involved in the manufacture/trade of goods with an environmental benefit need to be aware that the window is closing on a meaningful opportunity to have tariffs reduced or eliminated on a multijurisdictional basis. The United States and 13 other willing WTO Members, including the EU, China and Japan, have agreed to negotiate an environmental goods agreement (“EGA”) that will reduce or eliminate tariffs on such goods, much like the WTO Information Technology Agreement (“ITA”) did for the IT industry, and the WTO Pharmaceutical Agreement did for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, in the 1990s.1 Those industries have benefited enormously from the elimination of tariffs under those agreements. Given that duties on “environmental goods” can range from 5-35% outside of the United States, U.S. companies that manufacture/trade such goods need to take advantage of this similar opportunity. Companies whose products are covered under the EGA stand to achieve a significant competitive advantage (particularly as compared to companies whose products are not covered). |
Client Alert: Reducing the Landed Cost of “Environmental Goods”
By Import and Trade Remedies Blog 1 Min ReadCategories:
