Taiwan makers to confront EU's plans to levy tariffs on imported TFT-LCD panels

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 15, 2006. It reports that the European Union is currently considering levying tariffs on imported TFT-LCD panels. This move has caused concerns among Taiwan's panel manufacturers.

The European Union plans to levy a 5-percent tariff on imported TFT-LCD panels, and is likely to make the final decision by the end of 2006. Compared to the world's top two producers in South Korea - Samsung Electronics and LG Philips LCD Co., Ltd. - Taiwan's panel suppliers are more likely to be affected by the tariff because of their relatively smaller capitalizations.

Currently, most countries in the European Union categorize imported LCD TVs as home appliances and levy tariffs on them at a 14-percent rate. However, the European Union is currently considering whether to levy its own tariffs on LCD TV panels, including those that were imported one to two years ago. Both the rates of the tariffs and the date they will be imposed are yet to be finalized.

Taiwanese panel makers are carefully watching the developments in the European Union. For example, Taiwan's No. 2 TFT-LCD panel maker and No. 1 TV panel maker, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., is setting up several plans to minimize the possible impacts. The company may seek a contract partner in the European Union and ship the various major parts of LCD modules there for final assembly. Meanwhile, the company does not exclude the possibility of setting up an assembly plant in the European Union.