Australia on Aug. 16 officially opened applications for its revised Export Market Development Grants program, which it said will help exporters access new markets and ship more goods. New changes to the program include a “streamlined application process” and a shift to a “forward-looking grant program which will ensure exporters know how much funding they will receive before they spend,” a trade ministry news release said. The top five markets for grant recipients last year were the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, Singapore and Canada.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai released a readout of her Aug. 12 talk with South Korea’s Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, in which she said they discussed supply chain resiliency collaboration, tackling climate change and reform of the World Trade Organization.
The Singapore Customs TradeNet will undergo system maintenance Aug. 29 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, it said Aug. 13. Singapore Customs advised users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to the usual 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday maintenance.
India’s recently launched Compliance Information Portal will provide traders free access to the country’s customs procedures and compliance requirements in a bid to better streamline trade activities, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 13. The portal, introduced earlier this month, provides compliance information and import-export procedures for nearly 12,000 tariff lines and for courier and postal services, HKTDC said. It also includes information on reimports and reexports and features a COVID-19 help service, which allows traders to “request the rapid resolution of any cargo‑clearance problems” related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ships registered in Panama will pay taxes at the preferential rate of tonnage tax, China's General Administration of Customs said in an Aug. 13 announcement, according to an unofficial translation. If any taxable ship from Panama paid the ordinary tax rate from May 17 to Aug. 14, it can apply for a refund within six months of Aug. 15.
South Korea recently unveiled plans to secure its rare metals supply chain and increase competitiveness, including through more industry support, the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said this month. The plan, which will cover a range of metals used to make semiconductor chips and batteries, includes tax breaks and other incentives for its rare metals sectors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. The measures are designed to “establish a secure supply chain to cope with potential supply uncertainties,” Argus said in an Aug. 5 blog post. The U.S. has taken similar measures to support its semiconductor industry (see 2107280051 and 2107220006).
China recently issued new guidance specifying that certain imported goods processed in the Yangpu Bonded Zone in Hainan are exempt from import tariffs when sold elsewhere in China, KPMG said Aug. 11. The guidance, issued by China’s General Administration of Customs last month, covers companies operating in certain “'encouraged industries' when over 30% of the value-add … is generated in Hainan.” Although value-added and consumption taxes will still need to be paid for the goods, KPMG said the policy will “reduce the tax burdens” of certain companies and is “intended to make their products more price competitive.”
Ningbo Meidong Container Terminal, a container port in China's eastern marine hub Ningbo, just south of Shanghai, shut down operations after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, a port official at an Aug. 11 press briefing said, Reuters reported. Ningbo Meidong is a subsidiary of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port and also temporarily halted all inbound and lift-off services from 3:30 a.m. local time Aug. 11. The Ningbo Zhoushan port is China's second-largest container port by handling volume, just after Shanghai; it handled 18.68 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the first seven months of 2021, Reuters said. Twenty-eight container vessels were queuing outside the port Aug. 11, down from 53 vessels July 29, the Reuters report said, citing Refinitiv data.
A Cambridge University Press research paper published this month explores how the Chinese government exercises influence over Chinese firms that conduct foreign direct investment. The paper, which is behind a paywall, shows that China uses state-owned firms to pursue foreign investment and to “promote” the country’s foreign policy objectives. The U.S. has strengthened and revised its Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., partly to better scrutinize attempts by Chinese companies to acquire sensitive U.S. technologies through foreign direct investment (see 2001140060). More changes may be coming (see 2103030057, 2107230027 and 2103120042).
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade updated its Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020, section on principles of restrictions and prohibition for imports/exports. The section was amended to bring the language in line with international agreements, the DGFT said Aug. 10. The update said the DGFT may impose restrictions on export of foodstuffs to prevent or relieve critical shortages, imports of fisheries and other products, or as necessary for the "protection of public morals or to maintain public order," among other things.