Rubber Association Calls for Lowering Tariffs on Natural Rubber

The China Rubber Industry Association recently submitted an "Emergency Report" to the Development and Reform Commission calling for the reduction of natural rubber import tariffs, requiring "to maintain fairness and protect the reasonable interests of upstream and downstream industries, and refer to international practices to moderately reduce natural rubber import tariffs." It is understood that this is the second time since last year that the association has issued an appeal to relevant national departments on this issue.

The report states that China's rubber consumption is huge, but the production of natural rubber is severely insufficient. The annual import of natural rubber reaches 1.2 million tons, and this year it will reach 1.3 million tons. In recent years, the price of natural rubber in China has been continuously rising, and this year the price has once risen to 15000 yuan/ton. One of these important factors is the issue of tariff rates. Before joining the World Trade Organization, the nominal import tax rate for natural rubber was 25%, but the actual preferential tax rate of 12% was implemented; After joining the WTO, all countries implemented a 20% tax rate, which actually increased by 8%. According to China's WTO accession commitment, the amount of imported tires will increase by 15% annually, and import tariffs will be reduced from 30% to 10% within 5 years. This is clearly unfair for domestic rubber product enterprises.

It is understood that some countries with a shortage of natural rubber resources in foreign countries mostly encourage domestic rubber enterprises to fully utilize foreign natural rubber resources and only impose symbolic tariffs. For example, the import tariff of natural rubber in South Korea is only 1%, while in Japan it is zero.