From Next Year, Tariffs on 'Excavators and Canned Goods' for Exports to Mongolia Will Be Reduced

Mongolia Joins as 7th Member of Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement; Mutual Tariff Reductions Applied

Mongolia Export Tariffs Reduced: Excavators 5→4.5%, Canned Goods 5→3.5%

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Starting next year, Mongolia will lower tariffs on construction heavy equipment (excavators), vehicles (diesel transport), and canned goods (seafood) that we export.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that with Mongolia joining the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) as the 7th member country, from January 1st next year, Mongolia and South Korea will apply the reduced APTA preferential tariff rates on certain items.

APTA has provided preferential tariffs among member countries since 1976 to expand trade among developing countries. Currently, six countries including South Korea, China, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Laos are members.

With Mongolia joining APTA, South Korea will reduce tariffs on 2,797 items, accounting for 28% of total items, by an average of 33.4%. Mongolia will lower tariffs on 366 items, which is 6.5% of total items, by an average of 24.2%.

First, tariffs on excavators we export will decrease from 5% to 4.5%, diesel vehicles for transporting 10 or more people from 5% to 3.5%, and canned seafood from 5% to 3.5%. When importing Mongolian clothing and minerals, the reduced APTA preferential tariff rates will apply.

Mongolia’s accession to APTA is the first in 19 years since China joined in 2001. The government expects that trade with Mongolia using APTA will diversify the trade market.

The government plans to coordinate procedures such as issuing certificates of origin with Mongolia and other countries to ensure that from January 1, 2021, import declarations will apply mutual APTA preferential tariffs with Mongolia without any issues.