US and China in tax agreement
15/07/2004 - 08:50:39China and the US have signed an agreement ending their dispute over China’s tax breaks for semiconductor makers – which Washington said hurt foreign manufacturers – the Chinese government will announce today.
The two governments signed the memorandum of understanding in Geneva yesterday after four rounds of talks at the World Trade Organisation, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The dispute stemmed from Beijing’s policy of charging a 17% tax on semiconductors, but rebating up to 14% of that for Chinese-made chips. Washington said that this violated China’s WTO commitments.
