China’s antidumping and countervailing duties against Australian barley have “effectively stopped” Australian barley trade with China, Australia’s trade minister said May 28. The country recently asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel to address the duties (see 2104280050) but said it “remains open to further discussions with China with a view to resolving this issue.” Australia also said it will “vigorously defend the interests of Australian barley producers” through the WTO.
CBP's “claim of 'forced labor, abuse of crew members and withholding of pay' is fabrication that is totally inconsistent with facts,” China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a May 31 news conference in response to a question about a withhold release order issued against the Dalian Ocean Fishing Company. The company “has never sold any products to the U.S., and there's nothing to detain in the first place,” he said.
Sri Lanka will waive duties on goods imported by companies or projects “representing an investment” of at least $50 million in the country, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 25. The measure, retroactive to March 6, 2019, will cover imported construction materials, machinery and other goods, HKTDC said. It isn’t yet clear how companies receive a refund for import duties paid since March 6, 2019.
Thailand recently updated its approved list of “good handling practice standards” for exports of U.S. fresh fruit and vegetables, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported May 25. The list contains imported fresh produce that must include a “production standard certificate from an approved good handling practice standard.” Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration added one approved practice standard to the list: the “GLOBAL GAP -- Produce Handling Assurance version 1.2.”
Certain services relating to India's Import-Exporter Code Services will be unavailable June 1-6 since Permanent Account Number validation services are being consumed by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade's IT systems, according to a May 26 trade notice from the DGFT.According to the release, the application for a new IEC, application for amendments/modification of an IEC and one-time linking of Aadhaar (unique numbering system) for e-sign purposes will be unavailable for the designated period.
Thailand’s Cabinet recently approved a draft regulation to temporarily reduce certain customs duty surcharges, KPMG said in a May 24 post. Proposed to help provide relief from the COVID-19 pandemic, the measure would reduce the surcharge on an importer or exporter that underpays customs duty but pays the outstanding amount by a certain date, the post said. The measure would reduce the current 1% per month surcharge charge to 0.25% per month, KPMG said. The surcharge relief will be effective from the day following its publication in the Government Gazette until Sept. 30, KPMG said.
The Philippines recently lowered its Most Favored Nation tariff rates for rice to diversify market sources and maintain affordable rice prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report released May 19. The decision, which took effect this month, lowered the 40% in-quota and 50% out-quota rice tariff rates to 35%, USDA said. The lowered rates place Philippines’ MFN duty at the same rate as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Despite the tariff rate drop, USDA said prospects for U.S. rice exporters remain “limited outside of niche markets” because of their “relatively higher price.”
Singapore Customs arrested four Singaporean nationals and seized more than 9,081 carts of cigarettes for non-payment of duties on the goods, the agency announced in a May 19 joint news release with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority. The seized shipment of 9,081 cartons and eight packets of cigarettes held an unpaid-duty and Goods and Services tax value of $776,550 and $62,280 (in Singapore dollars), respectively. ICA officers detected anomalies in a 20-foot container at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station and Singapore Customs arrested the men shipping the container the next day, the release said. Under the Customs and GST acts, parties deemed guilty can be fined up to 40 times the amount of the evaded duty and/or jailed for up to six years, the release said.
The Philippines recently lowered tariffs and increased its quota volumes for pork due to “surging” pork prices caused by the African swine fever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a May 18 report. The measures “significantly” lowered the most favored nation tariff rates on fresh, chilled and frozen pork from the original 30% in-quota and 40% out-quota rates. The report includes a table outlining the new in-quota and out-quota tariff rates, which are expected to remain in effect for one year.
A former U.S. trade representative and a former deputy national security adviser agree that companies that do business in China are stuck between a rock and a hard place, as they will anger China if they disavow abuses in Xinjiang or Hong Kong, but could break U.S. law if they make clothes with Xinjiang cotton.