Nations Back Cuts In High-Tech Tariffs

Tue., Nov. 26, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

Eighteen Pacific Rim governments Monday endorsed sweeping tariff reductions by 2000 in the $1-trillion “information technology” industry and agreed to push forward with voluntary efforts to liberalize trade and investment opportunities in the region.

The commitment on tariff reductions came only after some carefully targeted personal lobbying by President Clinton here at the fourth summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, known as APEC. The forum’s foreign ministers agreed to a similar measure Saturday but stopped short of committing to the crucial 2000 deadline.

The endorsement on cuts, made by the leaders of Pacific Rim governments whose economies account for about four-fifths of the industry’s global trade, calls for the complete elimination of duties on such products as computers and telecommunications equipment. The industry is one of America’s strongest export sectors - one that supports nearly 2 million jobs nationwide.

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Nations Back Cuts In High-Tech Tariffs

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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