Taiwan may file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Canada over its long refusal to allow generalized preferential tariffs (GPT) on Taiwan-made textile products, an economic affairs official said Wednesday. Since 1974, Canada has been giving GPT treatment to more than 1,000 products, including bicycles, lumber, machine tools, sanitation equipment, steel goods, eyeglasses, auto parts and textiles, from China, South Korea and several other countries that are similar to Taiwan in terms of economic development. Since its accession to the WTO in 2002, Taiwan has been lobbying Canada for similar tariff terms but Canada has remained cool to the requests and not made any goodwill gestures in response, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) official said. 'When our two countries held an economic and trade consultation conference in January, Canada finally gave a slight response, but its promise only further disappointed us,' the official sighed. At present, Canada allows Taiwan most favored nations (MFN) tariff treatment, under which tariff rates range between 3 percent and 6 percent. In comparison, most of the 1,000-plus items that are given GPT treatment enjoy zero tariffs. The tariff gap between GPT and MFN for textile goods is 3.51 percent, which has seriously hampered the competitiveness of Taiwan-made textiles in the Canadian market compared to similar products from South Korea and China. Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang has directed relevant MOEA agencies to try every possible means to protest Canada's discrimination against Taiwan's textile products, the official said, adding that if necessary, Taiwan may lodge a protest, or even file a complaint, with the WTO. 