Newly amended FTA with Taiwan

By Mayora IP

A newly amended free-trade agreement (FTA) between Guatemala and Taiwan has took effect on April 4, 2020, with Guatemala’s annual tariff-free sugar quota, which includes raw and refined sugar, increasing to 125,000 tonnes from an average of about 94,000 tonnes per year.

Sugar is one of Guatemala’s main exports to Taiwan, with the Asian country importing 100,000 tonnes of sugar in 2019, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Bureau of Foreign Trade of Taiwan.

In the revised agreement, which includes four decisions expanding the scope and impact of the FTA, Taiwan also lifted duties on roasted chicory and other coffee substitutes. Other Guatemalan imports now also exempt from customs duties include mascarene grass, fruit or nut-bearing trees, shrubs, and bushes. Coffee beans from Guatemala, Taiwan’s biggest source of the product, were already exempt from duties.

Signed between 2019 and 2020 by the heads of negotiating teams from both countries, the decisions also comprise elimination of tariffs on bicycle and motorcycle exports from Taiwan.

Implemented July 1, 2006, the Taiwan-Guatemala FTA has significantly advanced bilateral trade. Sstatistics reveal that trade volume hit U$S 209 million in 2019, up 61 percent from U$S 130 million in 2005.