China has cut the import tariff on audio and video products and other electronic goods in a bid to lower trade barriers and reduce the nation's trade surplus.
The import tax on recorded cassettes, compact and digital video discs and floppy discs was cut to 13 percent from 17 percent from September 15, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement posted on its Website yesterday, without elaborating.
China wants to boost imports and slow export growth to curb its trade surplus, which widened 33 percent in August to US$24.97 billion, the second-highest on record, and to resolve trade disputes with its largest trading partners such as United States and the European Union. The US filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization in April against China's restrictions on the sale of foreign books and movies.
Along with the April complaint, the US also filed a case with the Geneva-based trade organization against China's copyright laws. Illegal copying of movies, music and software in the country cost companies US$2.2 billion in 2006 sales, according to an estimate by lobby groups representing Microsoft Corp, Walt Disney Co and Vivendi SA.
The WTO late last month said it will decide whether China's laws on piracy of intellectual property fail to meet international norms after the US twice requested the WTO to set up a panel to rule on a copyright case, Bloomberg News reported.