Brazil added 356 items to its list of foreign capital goods and information technology and telecommunications goods subject to duty-free treatment under the country’s Ex-Tarifario regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a July 3 report. Of the items, 329 are capital goods, and 27 are IT and telecom goods, the report said. The goods will benefit from duty-free treatment though Dec. 31, 2021. Brazil also renewed tariff-rate quotas on imports for six products: pigments, certain paper, aluminum ingot, chromium sulfate, p-Xylene and polyamide.
Brazil clarified the scope of medical goods subject to export restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2004300017), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said July 3. The goods encompass a range of personal protective equipment, including plastic goggles, masks, gloves and “protective capes.” Brazil will also restrict exports of “resuscitation breathing apparatus,” certain ventilators, hospital beds and multi-parameter monitors. The export ban does not apply to: personal protective equipment that cannot be used in the health sector; “on-board supplies”; temporary exports intended for “homologation, tests, prototypes, etc.”; and temporary exports for “outward processing,” the report said.
The International Dairy Foods Association told the chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that it believes Canada is already violating the annex on tariff rate quotas in the USMCA. The dairy trade group, which sent a letter to Ambassador Gregg Doud on June 30, says that USMCA prohibits TRQs from having conditions or eligibility requirements beyond those already in the Canadian Tariff Schedule -- and that Canada is doing just that.
The Canada Border Services Agency issued a memorandum June 25 on its interpretation of the phrase “for domestic purposes” under certain tariff items under the Harmonized System headings 94.01 and 94.03. Canada said “intended use, rather than the actual use, of furniture is the test” to determine whether furniture is classified “for domestic purposes,” the memorandum said. Canada also said the phrase should be given “a broad enough interpretation to include products that are used primarily in a domestic setting,” and that an item's “design, characteristics, marketing and pricing” should all be considered.
The Andean Community recently delayed the effective date for updated import requirements for cosmetic products to March 1, 2021, a June 24 Hong Kong Trade Development Council report said. The measures, which were scheduled to take effect May 27, will harmonize regional requirements for cosmetic products throughout the Andean Community’s free trade area, including for production, importation, storage and quality control, the report said. The Andean Community includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with neighboring countries as associate members.
Peru is aiming to digitize all of its trade operations to avoid COVID-19 exposure and to speed up cargo clearances, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a June 23 notice. Peru issued regulations that will no longer require trade operators to obtain “different signatures and approvals” at ports, warehousing facilities, shipping line warehouses and maritime agency offices throughout the country, HKTDC said. Peru also emphasized that customs officials cannot require original copies of a document if it has been “properly submitted” through the country’s single window for trade. Peru hopes the regulations allow “all operations linked to the international trade logistics chain” to be conducted electronically, the HKTDC said.
CBP extended its travel restrictions on the northern and southern borders through July 21. The travel restrictions were to expire June 22 (see 2005210015). The travel bans do not apply to cargo, and exempt crossing the border from Canada or Mexico to work in the U.S.
Everett Eissenstat, senior vice president of global public policy at General Motors, told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the stricter rules of origin in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement won't “change the whole dynamic” of siting decisions but will be taken into consideration.