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chocolate, which is not very different from the duty applied to cocoa beans at 8 percent. But even with a relatively
low tariff on chocolate, at present there is little chance for Africa to penetrate the Chinese chocolate market given its constrained supply capacity to produce high-quality chocolate.
African Tariff Barriers Against Asian ProductsAfrican tariffs have been lowered significantly in recent times. However,
Asian products still face relatively high tariff barriers in Africa. Figure presents the trend of the simple average tariff in African markets against the continent’s major trade partners. Three patterns are visible. First,
African countries,
especially non-LDCs, have liberalized their import policies rather quickly. This contrasts with the weak liberalizing trend in Asian markets. Second, Asian exports to African markets are facing higher tariffs than those of the EU and United States, partly because of high tariffs imposed on cheap Asian manufacturing goods such as textiles, apparel,
and footwear. Third, Africa’s markets on average
have higher tariffs againstAsian imports than Asian markets have against African imports. This reflects the pattern that Africa mostly imports manufactured goods, which typically have higher tariffs, while Asia imports mostly natural resources
and resource-based materials, which typically have lower tariffs.
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