New foreign trade regulations and hot spots in August

Quick view of foreign trade highlights in August
COSCO ocean freight: declare dangerous goods truthfully, including lithium batteries
Ministry of Commerce: China EU trade maintains stable development, and exchange rate changes should be viewed objectively
Dafei: reduce the sea freight again, covering all customers in France, effective on August 1
Labor negotiations between the United States and Western Europe: new progress has been made in the negotiations between ports and dockers in the United States and Western Europe
The Federal Reserve: in July, it raised interest rates by another 75 basis points, the fourth time this year. Powell said that the U.S. economy was not in recession
United States: tariffs will be imposed on 570 Russian goods, with a total amount of $2.3 billion
EU: Member States agree to cut natural gas consumption by 15% this winter
EU New Zealand: the negotiation of free trade agreement is completed, and the bilateral trade volume is expected to increase by 30%
EU Ukraine: sign a traffic visa free agreement and no longer need a license
Croatia: officially become the 20th member of the euro zone
Eurasian Economic Union: China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway is expected to start next year
Vietnam: the processing and manufacturing industry has absorbed a total of 252billion US dollars of foreign investment
India: import and export trade settlement in rupees
Brazil: the amount of tax reduction will reach 71 billion reais, and the volume of import and export trade is expected to reach a new high this year
Global: the economic slowdown leads to the decline of raw material prices
IMF: reduce the global economic growth forecast in 2022 and 2023
Announcement of applicable exchange rate of Customs in August
01 domestic and foreign trade hotspots
Policies & new regulations
COSCO ocean freight: declare dangerous goods truthfully, including lithium batteries
On July 15, COSCO Shipping Group issued the notice to customers on correctly declaring cargo information, informing shippers not to conceal, falsely report, misreport or omit to report the name and dangerous nature of the declared goods. In particular, with regard to lithium battery goods, it is reiterated that no matter in what way or whether they are classified as dangerous goods (according to the international maritime danger code), as long as the goods contain lithium batteries, they must perform the consignment duty and declare truthfully. If the violator will be dealt with in accordance with the regulations, COSCO ocean shipping will collect all losses and expenses from the shipper.
In addition, on July 20, the General Administration of Customs held a mobilization meeting for the deployment of the 100 day special action of "comprehensive treatment of dangerous goods at ports", which effectively prevented and resolved the risk of detention of dangerous goods at ports and resolutely curbed the illegal acts of falsification and concealment.
Ministry of Commerce: China EU trade maintains stable development, and exchange rate changes should be viewed objectively
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce responded to the strong rise of the RMB exchange rate against the euro since May and other issues, saying that exchange rate fluctuations are the result of the joint action of various market factors and have a multi-dimensional impact on trade, investment and other economic and trade activities. We should encourage market-oriented methods such as exchange rate hedging tools to continuously improve the ability of exchange rate risk management.
Since the beginning of this year, China EU trade has maintained stable development. In the first half of the year, the bilateral trade volume reached US $420.6 billion, an increase of 8.4% year-on-year. It is expected to maintain a healthy development momentum throughout the year.
02 international trade hotspots
Policies & new regulations
Dafei: reduce the sea freight again, covering all customers in France, effective on August 1
After announcing the reduction of the sea freight of 500 euros in June, the shipping company Dafei recently announced that it would further reduce the freight and expand the scope of application to all customers in France, effective from August 1 for a period of one year. Dafei said that these Measures mean a 25% drop in freight rates.
Freight reduction measures include:
For all goods imported from Asia by all French customers, the freight rate per 40 foot container is reduced by 750 Euros (previously reduced to 500 euros /feu);
For all goods destined for French overseas territories, the freight rate per 40 foot container is reduced by 750 Euros (previously reduced to 500 euros /feu);
New export measures: for all French exports, the freight rate per 40 foot container will be reduced by 100 euros.
Labor negotiations between the United States and Western Europe: new progress has been made in the negotiations between ports and dock workers in the United States and Western Europe
The International Federation of terminals and storage unions (ilwu) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) of the western United States port said in a joint statement on Tuesday that the negotiations have made progress since May 10, and now the two sides have reached a provisional agreement on health and welfare issues. However, both sides have not disclosed the contents of the interim agreement, and the negotiations are still ongoing.
The American Retail Federation called for a new contract to be negotiated quickly. Analysts pointed out that although there are still several problems to be solved, the possibility of reaching an agreement in August or September is increasing, and there will be little interruption on the wharf. According to Clarkson's latest research data, as of mid July, the container throughput of the west American port this month reached 1.2 million TEU, a record.
Ilwu labor union has nearly 22000 ilwu dock workers, covering all 29 ports on the West Bank of the United States. The original labor contract expired on July 1.
The Federal Reserve: in July, it raised interest rates by another 75 basis points, the fourth time this year. Powell said that the U.S. economy was not in recession
The Federal Reserve of the United States (fed /fed) announced on Wednesday that it would raise the benchmark overnight interest rate by 75 basis points and raise the target range of the federal funds rate to between 2.25% and 2.5%. This is the fourth interest rate hike this year and the second consecutive 75 basis points hike.
Powell, the theme of the Federal Reserve, said that the unemployment rate was at the lowest level in half a century, and that the solid wage rise made it untenable to say that the U.S. economy fell into recession. At the same time, it also said that if the inflationary pressure did not ease significantly, it would likely continue to raise interest rates significantly in September. This year, US inflation has soared to the highest level in 40 years, and the current inflation rate is more than three times the Fed's CPI target of 2%
United States: tariffs will be imposed on 570 Russian goods, with a total amount of $2.3 billion
According to Russian media reports, a document released by the U.S. government said that the United States would impose 35% import tariffs on 570 Russian goods from the end of July, and published a list of goods with additional tariffs, including minerals, wood products, metals and other goods, excluding palladium, platinum, titanium, and some cast iron and nickel products.
According to the statistics of the U.S. government, the total import volume of goods subject to tariffs is 2.3 billion dollars.
EU: Member States agree to cut natural gas consumption by 15% this winter
Recently, EU Member States reached a political agreement to reduce the demand for natural gas by 15% on the basis of the average consumption of the past five years from August 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, according to the measures they choose, in order to improve the security of EU energy supply.
If there is a shortage of natural gas supply at that time, the EU will take compulsory measures to reduce natural gas demand.
EU New Zealand: the negotiation of free trade agreement is completed, and the bilateral trade volume is expected to increase by 30%
The European Commission recently announced that the EU and New Zealand have completed the negotiation of the free trade agreement, "which will bring important economic opportunities to enterprises and consumers on both sides".
EU Ukraine: sign a traffic visa free agreement and no longer need a license
Ukrainian channel 24 recently reported that Ukrainian Prime Minister shmegal announced that Ukraine has signed a transportation visa free agreement with the EU, and Ukrainian freight companies no longer need to obtain a license to enter EU countries.
Shmegal said that this will open up a lot of opportunities for Ukrainian products to enter the European market, and the pace of Ukraine's integration into the European internal market is accelerating.
Croatia: officially become the 20th member of the euro zone
Recently, the European Council officially approved Croatia to join the euro zone on January 1, 2023, becoming the 20th member state of the euro zone, and set the exchange rate at 7.53450 Kuna to 1 euro. So far, all legal approval procedures at the EU level have been completed.
From September, Croatia will obtain a seat on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank as an observer.
China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway is expected to start construction next year
Recently, the Belarus Vitebsk meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted a resolution to include the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway Project in the list of priority projects for the integration of transport infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Union.
The Eurasian Economic Union, also known as the Eurasian Economic Commission, was established in 2015. Its member countries include Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. The five countries are important partners in the construction of the "the Belt and Road".
Vietnam: the processing and manufacturing industry has absorbed a total of 252billion US dollars of foreign investment
According to a recent report in Vietnam +, the statistics of the Foreign Investment Bureau of the Ministry of planning and investment of Vietnam show that Vietnam has attracted 34898 foreign investment projects, with a total agreed investment of 426.14 billion US dollars.
In the first six months of this year, Vietnam absorbed us $16.03 billion of foreign capital, of which the processing and manufacturing industry absorbed nearly US $8.84 billion, accounting for 63% of the total foreign capital.
On July 11, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notice on international trade settlement in Indian rupees (INR).
The notice said that it had decided to implement an additional mechanism to invoice, pay and settle import and export goods in Indian rupees, with immediate effect. The currency exchange rate between trading partner countries is determined by the market.
Brazil: the amount of tax reduction will reach 71 billion reais, and the volume of import and export trade is expected to reach a new high this year
According to the Brazilian "economic value" recently, the data of the Brazilian Ministry of economy shows that the tax reduction measures approved by Brazil in 2021 and 2022 will reduce the tax of 71 billion reais (1 US dollar ≈ 5.2 reais) this year. The main contribution of tax reduction comes from the 35% reduction of industrial product tax (IPI), with a tax reduction amount of about 23.6 billion reais, and other tax reductions for gasoline, ethanol, diesel and other energy products.
The Brazilian Foreign Trade Association recently released a report predicting that the total trade volume is expected to reach US $584.816 billion in 2022, surpassing last year's record high. Among them, the export volume will increase by 13.8% over last year, reaching US $319.471 billion; The import volume will increase by 21% to US $265.345 billion.
From January to June 2022, China's total export trade of goods to Brazil amounted to 28.955 billion US dollars, and the top ten commodity exports amounted to 21.417 billion US dollars, accounting for 73.96% of the total exports
Among them, the export volume of mechanical and electrical products was the highest, ranking first, reaching US $8.495 billion. The others are machinery, machinery and accessories (US $3.697 billion), organic chemicals (US $3.344 billion), miscellaneous chemicals (US $1.673 billion), vehicles and accessories (US $1.047 billion), plastics and their products (US $1.028 billion), fertilizers (US $798 million), steel (US $744 million), and steel products (US $597 million).
Global: the economic slowdown leads to the decline of raw material prices
Recently, due to the superposition of factors such as the tightening policy of the United States, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the COVID-19, global demand has decreased and raw material prices have fallen.
Based on July 15, the price of nickel, the core raw material of electric vehicle batteries, was $19333 per ton, down more than 18% from the end of June; Copper used in electronics, electric power, automobile, construction and other industrial fields fell from US $10730 per ton in March this year to US $7000; Aluminum fell from US $3984 per ton in February this year to US $2320; Iron ore fell to $104 per ton from $144 last month.
IMF: reduce economic growth expectations for 2022 and 2023
On the 26th, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its world economic growth forecast for 2022 and 2023 to 3.2% and 2.9% respectively. This is another reduction after the agency lowered its world economic growth forecast in April.
IMF believes that higher than expected inflation in the world, especially in the major economies of the United States and Europe, has led to a tightening of the financial environment, and the negative spillover effect of the Ukrainian crisis has further impacted the world economy.
03 applicable exchange rate of Customs
August 2022
Import and foreign trade agency