This file photo taken Dec. 11, 2022, shows a supermarket in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to increase the number of products on its flexible tariffs list in 2023 to cope with the global inflation and to meet industrial needs, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
The number of products eligible for preferential tariff rates will reach 101 in 2023, rising from 83 this year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The government has included 26 new items while excluding eight.
Flexible tariffs, which cover both tariff quotas and adjustment duties, are used by the government to adjust rates on particular products to stabilize prices and ensure a stable supply.
The measures are anticipated to cut tariffs worth 1.07 trillion won (US$842 million), rising sharply from 715.6 billion won estimated for this year.
The country will apply a zero-tariff policy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports within a quota over the first three months of 2023.
Those on liquefied natural gas will stay at zero within a quota over the January-March period and 2 percent in the October-December period of next year.
South Korea also plans to lift tariffs on major foodstuffs, including onions, chicken, mackerel and pork over a different period through June.
The new flexible tariffs policy will come into effect Sunday.
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 5 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 5.7 percent growth tallied in October, a separate report from Statistics Korea showed earlier.
Consumer prices increased at the fastest pace in almost 24 years at 6.3 percent in July. In September, they expanded 5.6 percent on-year.
(Yonhap)
