APEC targets agreement on green product list by September

Against the backdrop of the dispute between China and the US over solar panels top trade officials from members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) said yesterday that, by the end of September, they hope to agree on a list of environmentally friendly products that would be targeted for tariff cuts over the next three years.

"We reaffirm our commitment to promote trade and investment in environmental goods and services in order to address environmental challenges," trade ministers from the 21 APEC members said in a statement issued at their annual meeting being held in Kazan, Russia.

APEC leaders agreed last November to cut tariffs on certain environmentally friendly goods to 5 percent or less by the end of 2015, and pledged to decide on the list of products by this year's leaders' summit meeting in September in Vladivostok.

The United States has proposed cutting tariffs on solar panels, water and wind turbines, water treatment pumps, waste incinerators, deep discharge batteries and other products to spur trade and reduce the cost of environmentally friendly technologies. Thirteen other APEC economies have also provided lists of proposed products, but China has not, a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative's office told Reuters.