The maximum marginal income tax rate on individuals is 55 percent. Effective corporate taxes are comparatively low, though social security contributions add one-third or more to employers' gross wage bills. Trade in industrial products between Sweden, other EU countries, and EFTA countries is not subject to customs duty, nor is a significant proportion of Sweden's imports from developing countries. When Sweden joined the EU, its import duties were among the lowest in the world, averaging less than 5 percent ad valorem on finished goods and around 3 percent on semi-manufactures. Duties were raised slightly on average to meet the common EU tariff structure.
Most raw materials are imported duty free.
There is very little regulation of exports other than military exports and some high-technology products that could be used in weapons of mass destruction. Sweden began abolishing a complicated system of agricultural price regulation in 1991. Sweden's EU membership and consequent adherence to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy have brought re-regulation of agriculture. Sweden's Central Bank and National Debt Office have borrowed heavily in foreign currencies since the fall of 1992, increasing the central government's foreign debt five-fold to about a third of the public debt. Management of the increased debt level so far poses no problems to the country, but interest payments on the burgeoning national debt are growing rapidly.