For the full implementation of the Party’s Eighteenth National Congress and the spirit of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the Eighteenth Central Committee, taking into overall consideration and making comprehensive use of both international and domestic markets and resources, supporting industrial transformation and upgrading, promoting the transformation of the foreign trade development model, and promoting sustained and healthy economic development, the State Council Tariff Commission, after consideration and approval by the State Council, will make adjustments to some import and export tariffs in China from January 1, 2016.

In order to promote steady growth in imports and exports, strengthen the import of advanced technologies, products and services, increase effective supply, and promote domestic independent innovation and the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure, the 2016 tariff adjustment will continue to encourage the import of advanced domestic equipment, key components, and energy and raw materials. Temporary tariff reductions will be applied to imported goods such as traction converters for high-speed electric locomotives, TV camera modules, motor controller assemblies for pure electric or hybrid vehicles, chrome-free tanning agents, and cattle and sheep fats. To enrich domestic consumer choices and meet the upgrading of domestic consumption demand, in 2016 the scope of tariff reductions on daily consumer goods will be moderately expanded. Provisional tax rates will be used to reduce import tariffs on goods with relatively high import tariff rates and greater demand elasticity, such as bags, clothing, scarves, blankets, vacuum insulation cups, sunglasses and other goods. In order to fully play the role of tariffs in protecting domestic industries, according to domestic production and demand conditions, in 2016 tariffs on some commodities such as automatic winders will be adjusted accordingly. At the same time, in 2016 export tariffs on goods such as phosphoric acid, ammonia and ammonia products will also be cancelled, and export tariffs on commodities such as pig iron and billets will be appropriately reduced.

In order to expand bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation, accelerate the implementation of the free trade area strategy on a peripheral basis, and form a high-standard free trade area network facing the whole world, according to trade or tariff concession agreements signed between China and other relevant countries, China will implement further tariff reductions under seven agreements, including the free trade agreements with Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Peru and New Zealand, as well as the arrangements for closer economic and trade relations between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao. At the same time, according to China’s commitment made in 2012 under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to reduce tariffs on some environmental products, in 2016 the tariff rates on 27 environmental products with applicable tax rates above 5% will be reduced to 5%, mainly including sludge dryers, waste incinerators, solar water heaters, wind turbines and other products.

In order to adapt to scientific and technological progress, adjustment of the industrial structure, optimization of the trade structure, and the need to strengthen import and export management, some tariff items in the 2016 import and export tariff schedule will be adjusted. After the adjustment, the total number of tariff items in 2016 will increase from 8,285 to 8,294.