Global Trade and Tariff Policy on Rubber and Rubber Products Under the WTO Regime

摘要

Though the comparative analysis of the tariff regime on rubber and rubber products in the selected NR producing countries and three developed countries revealed lower tariff barriers in the latter,the observed pattern of tariff policy deserves further explanation based on the rubber based industrial structure in the individual countries and the extent of intra-NR producer trade.While the bound rates of duty are only indicators of the potential ceiling rates of customs duty on individual products,technically,it is the prevailing mean MFN tariffs that are the determinants of protection from external competition as well as tariff barriers to market access across countries.Although only Thailand has kept the three selected tariff lines on NR unbound for ensuring maximum flexibility in protection to the domestic NR production sector arriong the five NR producing countries,functionally,the highest rates of average customs duty was observed in the case of Indai(40%),followed by China(20%).While the rate of duty in Indonesia is only 5 per cent,both Malaysia and Thailand do not impose any basic customs duty.In order to explain the different rates of duty on NR among the five countries,it is essential to examine the extent of domestic consumption and imports of NR in these countries in relation to production.Table 8 shows the details.