Ukraine revokes import duties on vehicles
KYIV, Sept 30 Ukraine on Wednesday lifted an
emergency import duty on cars which was imposed in 2013 to
protect local producers, the state commission on foreign trade
said.
A sharp contraction of the Ukrainian economy caused mostly
by a separatist conflict in eastern regions more than halved car
imports to 92,400 cars in 2014.
“The commission has found that the national interests of
Ukraine require the discontinuation of the emergency tariffs on
imports into Ukraine,” the commission said in a statement.
The tariffs of 6.5 to 13 percent on car imports were imposed
in March 2013, after domestic production dropped sharply while
imports had risen.
The move was criticised by foreign car producers and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) this year backed a Japanese
complaint about the tariffs and recommended that Kyiv revoke
them.
Ukrainian domestic production fell by 43 percent last year
to 28,751 cars.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely)