The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released on Sept. 13 a report on China’s second round of tariff exclusions, including a list of eligible products, eligible applicants, how to apply for exemptions and their scope of eligibility. The report includes translations of the more than 400 tariff lines of U.S. agricultural goods that are eligible for exemption. Applications for exclusions are being accepted by China's Ministry of Finance through Oct. 18, 2019.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said he doesn't believe that the Trump administration will declare victory if Chinese buyers return to buying pork, soybeans and corn. "I don't think it will be an agreement of any type until it's a matter of substance," he said.
The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs recently posted a new webinar to help U.K. companies prepare for Brexit. The hourlong webinar covers five “key areas” that U.K. businesses must be aware of to keep trading goods when the U.K. leaves the EU: applying for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, preparing to make customs declarations, transitional simplified procedures, entry summary declarations, and paying customs duty, VAT and excise duties.
The Mexican Secretariat of Economy recently issued instructions for entering samples into Mexico for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of compliance with Mexican product standards, according to a recent circular issued by the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM), as posted by consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior. Importers should declare the samples under Mexican tariff subheading 9906.00.01, and attach to the entry an electronic document issued by the relevant certification body that says the samples are being imported for the purposes of certification with a Mexican product standard, the circular said. A maximum of three samples may be imported for this purpose, or in some cases the number of samples stated in the relevant product standard. Under recently issued regulations, certain goods may not be imported into Mexico without a certificate of compliance at the time of entry stating it complies with Mexican product standards.
Chinese companies have begun asking about prices of U.S. agricultural goods in response to the U.S.’s two-week postponement of tariffs on Chinese goods, a China Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said.
China's Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council will add agricultural products such as soybeans and pork to its list of tariff exemptions of U.S. goods, according to a report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. China also said it “supports" companies buying a “certain amount of U.S. farm produce” but did not specify the amount, according to the report.
In the Sept. 11 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The United Kingdom announced that on Sept. 10 that with formal talks concluded, it has initialed and is close to signing a trade continuity agreement that will continue current trade relations with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique after Brexit. The agreement will continue tariff treatment under the European Union economic partnership agreement with the countries after the U.K. is no longer subject to EU trade agreements, allowing U.K. businesses to continue trade on preferential terms with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and Mozambique. The agreement marks a leap of 10 percent in total trade currently covered by U.K. trade continuity agreements.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 11 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Singapore Customs arrested three men for being involved in a scheme to evade import tariffs on more than 3,400 cartons of cigarettes, Singapore said in a Sept. 11 press release. The men had hidden the cigarettes inside 10 “large spools of cable wires” and kept them in a warehouse, the notice said. The men planned to place the cigarettes in “canvas bags for delivery to other parts of Singapore,” the press release said, and avoided more than $300,000 (in Singapore dollars) in duties and taxes. The men face a maximum fine of up to 40 times the amount of unpaid taxes and a maximum six-year prison sentence.