Vietnam is, under all commitments made with trade partners requiring bilateral negotiations about its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), supposed to reduce import taxes on 10,600 items by an average of 30 percent, a local agency said on Tuesday.

Some 10,600 tariff lines are subject to reduction, mainly within five years after Vietnam's entry to the WTO, said the International Cooperation Department under the Finance Ministry.

Local items which will undergo remarkable tariff reduction include garment and textile (by 63 percent), fishes and fish products (by 38 percent), wood for paper production (by 33 percent) , and electrical and electronic equipment (by 24 percent).

Upon WTO accession, Vietnam will remove agriculture subsidies, and will not interfere in operation of state-owned enterprises, the department said.

Under a bilateral deal on concluding WTO negotiations with the United States, Vietnam will impose import taxes of 15 percent or less on roughly three-fourths of U.S. agricultural exports, including cotton, selected beef, pork, whey, grapes, apples, pears and soybeans. Vietnam's current average applied tariff on agricultural products is 27 percent.

Regarding manufactured goods, about 94 percent of Vietnam's import from the United States will face duties of 15 percent or less. Duties for key products in the construction equipment, pharmaceuticals and aircraft sectors are 0-5 percent.

Vietnam in May concluded the WTO bilateral negotiations with the United States, the last of 28 partners which required bilateral talks, paving the way for the Southeast Asian nation to join the global trading club, hopefully late 2006, after 11 years of bilateral and multilateral negotiations.

Source: Xinhua