World Economic Forum Bloc Announces Initiative to Eliminate Environmental Goods Tariffs
The U.S., along with 13 other nations and the European Union (EU), announced on Jan. 24 an initiative that targets comprehensive elimination of tariffs on environmental "green" goods, according to a joint statement released during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation pledged in 2012 to reduce to 5 percent or less tariffs on 54 environmental products (here). The decision reached at Davos aims to build off that list to reach the broader World Trade Organization (WTO) community, said the joint statement.
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“We anticipate a structure for an environmental goods agreement that would reinforce the rules-based multilateral trading system and benefit all WTO Members, including by involving all major traders and applying the principle of Most Favored Nation,” said the statement. “Such an agreement would take effect once a critical mass of WTO Members participates.” The other 13 sponsors include Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and Chinese Taipei.
The APEC list includes such goods as solar water heaters, wind turbines and water treatment filters, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) noted, while applauding the initiative (here). Global trade in environmental goods totals $955 billion annually, and some nations apply tariffs as high as 35 percent, said USTR. The bloc of 14 nations and the EU already account for 86 percent of global trade in such goods, said USTR.
Recent success in brokering a WTO trade facilitation and market access deal in Bali paved the way for this initiative, said Jake Colvin, National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) vice president for global trade issues, in a statement. “With this agreement, we have a great opportunity to set a standard for ways trade policy can address pressing global challenges, including the environment,” said Colvin. “The NFTC has long been a supporter of trade liberalization for environmental goods at the WTO and APEC, and we look forward to working with negotiators to achieve an expeditious and ambitious outcome that includes a critical mass of trade of key environmental goods.”
The initiative will foster growth in U.S. manufacturing employment, said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a statement. “The news that the US and many of its important trade partners will launch trade talks to reduce trade barriers to goods that are integral toward promoting a healthy environment -- such as wind turbines and solar panels -- is another important step toward creating a level playing field for American producers to compete abroad,” said the statement, released by a spokesman. “American companies make some of the best and most innovative green goods in the world but face disproportionately high tariffs and other obstacles when trying to break into foreign markets.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the Davos and NFTC statements.