Ecuador Told To Repeal New 'Safeguard' Trade Tariffs

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

10 February 2015

Ecuador has been ordered by the General Secretariat of the Andean Community to remove newly announced safeguard tariffs on imports from Colombia and Peru immediately.

From January 5 this year, Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Trade began applying tariffs of 21 percent and 7 percent on imports from Colombia and Peru, respectively, to offset the impact on the Ecuadorian market of a stronger US dollar. Ecuador, which uses the US currency, claimed that domestic producers are being harmed by imports from Colombia and Peru entering Ecuador at below market prices.

However, the General Secretariat – the executive body of the Andean Community, a trade bloc comprising four Latin American countries, also including Bolivia – said on February 6, 2015, that it had found no evidence to suggest that the depreciation of the currencies of Colombia and Peru had undermined the competitiveness of companies in Ecuador.

The General Secretariat also said that Ecuador implemented the tariffs without seeking prior authorization. Ecuador was ordered to reimburse any companies affected by the tariffs.

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