Electronics import tariffs in 5 ASEAN countries to be abolished
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will soon enjoy low prices on electronics.
It’s about time. For years they have put taxes on imported electronics, basically everything. So the prices that US consumers enjoy are not necessarily passed on to other countries. The Philippine government puts as much as 25% tax on computers on top of the local tax. Take Intel processors for example. These chips are made in Malaysia or in the Philippines, it is prohibited to sell these chips locally. So what happens is that these chips leave the country and come back and sold at a higher price.
I applaud the ASEAN for doing the right things. They’ve already lost a lot of ground to China and India in terms of IT development and sales. I hope this boosts the industry and I’ll expect a cheaper iPod in the near future. Like really near.
Procrastinating in the Heat 
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