The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that it would temporarily halt business taxes on imported corn, wheat and soybeans, halve import tariffs on butter and milk powder for baking, and reduce commodity taxes on gasoline and diesel to stabilize consumer prices and ease operational strain for food and beverage businesses.

From today to April 30, the 5 percent business duty on corn, wheat and soybean imports would be scrapped, while the tariffs for imported butter would be halved from NT$5 to NT$2.5 and those for milk powder for baking would be reduced from NT$10 to NT$5, the Executive Yuan said.

The commodity tax on gasoline, which was in December last year cut from NT$6.83 to NT$5.83 per liter for two months, would be lowered by an additional NT$1 per liter from today until April 30, while the commodity tax on diesel, which had been reduced from NT$3.99 to NT$2.99 per liter in December, would drop by another NT$0.5 per liter over the same period, it said

Prior to the announcement of the tariff cuts, state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) put a freeze on prices for liquefied petroleum gas in cylinders and liquefied natural gas for households for last month and this month.

The prices would remain unchanged until the end of April, the Executive Yuan said.

The measures came after the government in December eliminated tariffs on imported wheat and cut tariffs on imported beef and cement by half amid continuing high import prices for the products.

Those measures would also remain in place until April 30, the Executive Yuan said.

Yesterday’s announcement followed a Cabinet meeting presided over by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), which was also attended by officials from the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Council of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the central bank, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.

The consumer price index has kept rising, and in December was up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, higher than the 2 percent threshold set by the central bank for a fifth consecutive month.

Lo said the measures are expected to alleviate pressure on farmers who use corn and soybeans as animal feed, food-grade oil manufacturers, and businesses that produce baked goods and noodles.

Su has also instructed the Council of Agriculture to draft subsidies for egg farmers in light of recent fluctuations in supply, Lo said.

Source: TaipeiTimes