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LatinNews Daily Report - 17 May 2013
In Brief- Chile
ECONOMY| Chile eliminates import tariffs for less developed countries. On 16 May Chile’s finance minister, Felipe Larraín, announced that Chile would gradually eliminate tariffs on all imports from less developed countries with which it does not have a free trade agreement (FTA) in place. Chile has FTAs with 60 countries, which as a result benefit from import tariffs of less than 1% on average, whereas non-beneficiary countries are subject to an average tariff of 6%. The measures will benefit 49 countries in Africa and Asia Pacific, as well as Haiti, Larraín stated, explaining that “As well as constituting a gesture from our country towards the international community, we are making a commitment to those countries with lower levels of development”. Larraín added that the measure would also benefit Chile by allowing it to “significantly” reduce the costs of oil imports. The beneficiary countries’ exports, he noted, “are heavily concentrated in oil”, and so the new measure will allow Chile’s national oil company (Enap) to negotiate better terms and conditions. The first six countries to be included are: Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan and Yemen. Wheat and sugar, which are subject to price bands, will be excluded from the scheme, Larraín noted.
