Korea's tariff revenue will likely shrink significantly this year due to the implementation of more free trade deals and the government's move to lower tariffs on some products to stabilize import prices, a parliamentary report showed Tuesday.
The country's tariff income will amount to an estimated 10.07 trillion won ($9.14 billion) this year, down 1.89 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the report by the National Assembly Budget Office.
The decline projection is based on lowered tariff barriers caused by more free trade agreements (FTAs) going into effect, including those with the European Union and the United States.
FTAs with the EU and the U.S. went into effect in July last year and March this year.
As of August, customs-clearing imports from the EU accounted for 9.5 percent of the total, slightly up from the previous year's 9.1 percent, but the ratio of tariff income declined sharply from 20.2 percent to 9.9 percent over the same period, the report showed.
The corresponding tariff income ratio with the U.S. also fell from 16.5 percent to 13.4 percent over the cited period, though its trade proportion remains almost unchanged.
Another reason for the projected decline in duty income is that the government temporarily lowered tariffs on certain products in a bid to ease import price increases and keep inflation under control, according to the report. (Yonhap)