U.S. Imposing Trade Curbs on Taiwan, Korea

The Reagan Administration moved Friday to end duty-free status for about $3 billion in imports from Taiwan, South Korea and other developing countries and to eliminate entirely the eligibility of Nicaragua, Paraguay and Romania.

Poor records on worker rights were cited as the reason for penalizing the three countries whose eligibility was canceled.

U.S. Trade Representative Clayton K. Yeutter said President Reagan has decided to end duty-free status on July 1 for 290 products, or about $3 billion in imports, from Taiwan, South Korea and other newly industrialized countries.

Among the products for which those countries will now have to start paying import tariffs of 5% to 7% are hand tools, cookware and cameras from South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan; concrete block, stone products and frozen vegetables from Mexico; furs from Argentina, industrial diamonds from Brazil and synthetic drugs from Singapore.

Some Countries Gain

However, some of those countries, plus less advanced nations such as Colombia, Malaysia and the Philippines, will acquire new duty-free status for about $1 billion in exports of 95 other products to the United States, Yeutter said.

The revisions in the Generalized System of Preferences effectively will reduce by $2 billion the duty-free treatment on some 3,000 products from 140 developing countries. About $13.2 billion in imports received the duty-free treatment in 1985.