Taiwan's International Trade Commission will recommend to the government higher tariffs on certain towel products from China to protect its local industry, the Financial Times reported. The Commission is to determine the tariff rate on Friday. The safeguards move, which will be the first imposed by the island since the two sides joined the World Trade Organization, came in response to a petition from a local industry group for tariffs to be raised from 4.5% to 189% for three years or that import quotas be imposed. Last month, the ITC found that an import surge from China had caused market disruption at home, which is enough to allow for safeguard measures. Since Taiwan opened its market to China's towels in February 2002, local market share has halved from 16% to 8% while Chinese producers have grabbed 69%. Only 78 of the more than 400 Taiwanese towel manufacturers that existed a decade ago are left.
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