Recent foreign trade events

RCEP drives China's export to Japan
RCEP came into force at the beginning of this year. From January to April 2022, the number of certificates of origin under the free trade agreement of the national trade promotion system totaled 375200, an increase of 22.11% year-on-year; The visa amount totaled US $17.352 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 31.72%, which is expected to reduce tariffs of US $867million for Chinese products in relevant importing countries and regions. Among them, the number of certificates of origin issued under the China Japan free trade agreement has increased significantly.
RCEP certificate of origin allows Chinese foreign trade enterprises to enjoy tariff reduction and exemption from exports to Japan for the first time. From the perspective of the export destination country of RCEP certificate, Japan ranks first in the visa amount of RCEP certificate of origin for four consecutive months, with the monthly visa amount accounting for more than 90%, up to 97%, reflecting that the majority of export enterprises to Japan have fully realized the policy dividends brought by the implementation of RCEP agreement, It also shows that the implementation of RCEP agreement has great potential to boost China's exports to Japan.
Iran: reduce the import value-added tax rate of some basic commodities
According to a recent report by the Iraqi news agency, according to the letter sent by the vice president of economic affairs razai to the Minister of Finance and agriculture, with the approval of the supreme leader, the value-added tax rate on the country's imports of wheat, rice, oilseeds, raw edible oil, beans, sugar, chicken meat, red meat and tea was reduced to 1% from the date of entry into force of the value-added tax law to the end of 1401.
According to another report, Amin, the Minister of industry, mining and trade of Iran, said that at present, the government has proposed a vehicle import regulation with 10 clauses, which stipulates that the import of vehicles can begin within two to three months after approval. Amin said that the country attaches importance to the import of economic vehicles less than 10000 US dollars, plans to import from China and Europe, and has now begun negotiations.
Egypt: prohibit inferior and unknown goods from entering the market
According to the Egyptian pyramid newspaper portal recently reported that Egyptian Finance Minister Mohammed MAIT said that Egypt has successfully implemented the maritime pre registration system (ACI) in ports and will also launch the system in air ports, which will help shorten the customs clearance time and prohibit the entry of bad and unknown goods into the Egyptian market.
Brazil: further reduce import tax burden
The Brazilian state newspaper Sao Paulo reported on May 26 that the Brazilian government will further reduce the import tax burden in order to expand the openness of the Brazilian economy. The new tax reduction law is in the final stage of preparation, which will eliminate the charge of dock tax from the import tax collection, which is a charge for the loading and unloading of port goods.
This measure will actually represent a 10% reduction in import tax, which is equivalent to the third round of trade opening. This is equivalent to a decrease of about 1.5 percentage points in import tariffs. At present, the average tariff in Brazil is 11.6%. Unlike other Mercosur countries, Brazil imposes all import taxes and tariffs, including the calculation of terminal taxes. Therefore, the government will now reduce this very high cost in Brazil.
Recently, the Brazilian government announced to reduce the import tax rate of beans, meat, pasta, biscuits, rice, building materials and other products by 10%, which is valid until December 31, 2023. Last November, the Ministry of economic affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that they would reduce the commercial tariff rate of 87% by 10%, excluding goods such as cars, sugar and wine.
Algeria: looking for import sources to replace Spanish products
Dissatisfied with Spain's position of turning closer to Morocco on the Western Sahara issue, the Algerian government suspended the 20-year Treaty of friendship and cooperation with Spain on June 8, and suspended trade in goods and services with Spain from June 9.
Spain is Algeria's fifth largest source of import supply, second only to China, France, Italy and Germany, and is also Algeria's third export target market. Spain pays Algeria $5billion a year to buy natural gas. Spain is a transit country for many imported products from Afghanistan. These products are imported by Spain from Europe, Asia and the Americas and exported to Afghanistan after being packaged in Spain. Algeria's announcement of the termination of exchanges triggered panic among Algerian importers.
At present, Afghan importers are looking for alternatives to Spanish products. The most needed substitutes for importers are paper, cartons and various chemicals, the most important of which are citric acid, colorants, preservatives and so on. In addition, there are packaging materials, iron products, vegetable oil and animal oil, dyes, plastics and meat. The number of ceramics imported from Spain has decreased significantly. Algeria is exporting ceramics to Spain through many factories. In addition, it also exports iron, salt, seeds, fish, sugar, dates and fertilizers. Fuel exports to Spain account for 90% of its total exports.
Thailand: the cabinet approved the negotiation of a free trade agreement between Thailand and the European Free Trade Association
According to Thailand's headline news on June 8, on June 7, Ms. rachada, deputy spokesperson of the prime minister's office, revealed after the cabinet meeting that the cabinet approved Thailand to negotiate a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and adopted the negotiation framework of the trade agreement as a guide for bilateral trade cooperation.
According to the proposal of the Ministry of Commerce, the two sides will start negotiations on June 20. EFTA is composed of four member countries, including Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. They are a potential market and are interested in signing a free trade agreement with Thailand.
The United States officially launched 337 investigations on the connecting adapter of the golf club body and golf club head and its components and downstream products in China
On June 21, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted to launch a 337 investigation (investigation Code: 337-ta-1320) on specific general-purpose golf club body and golf club head connection adapters and their components and downstream products. Top golf equipment Co. Limited of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China is the listed defendant. The U.S. International Trade Commission will determine the completion date of the investigation within 45 days after filing the case. Except for the rejection of the United States trade representative for policy reasons, the relief order issued by the United States International Trade Commission in the 337 case takes effect from the date of issuance and has final effect on the 60th day after the date of issuance.
Japanese enterprises filed 337 investigation applications for specific mobile electronic devices related to China
On June 17, maxell, Ltd. of Japan filed an application with the U.S. International Trade Commission in accordance with Section 337 of the tariff act of 1930, claiming that the specific mobile electronic devices exported, imported and sold to the United States infringed its intellectual property rights. Lenovo Group Ltd in Beijing, China, and two enterprises in the United States are the listed defendants.
(source: focus world, website of the Ministry of Commerce, Tradelink, etc.)
India: impose anti-dumping duties on fluorine coated solar panels
Recently, the tax bureau of the Ministry of finance of India issued a notice saying that it accepted the final anti-dumping ruling made by the Ministry of Commerce and industry of India on March 29, 2022 on solar fluorocarbon coated backplanes originating in or imported from China, and decided to impose anti-dumping duties on the products involved for a period of five years, of which the manufacturer Suzhou Zhonglai photovoltaic new materials Co., Ltd. is $762 / metric ton, and other manufacturers are $908 / metric ton, with a validity period of five years. This case involves products under Indian customs codes 3920 and 3921.