Nazak Nikakhtar is no longer the acting Commerce Department undersecretary for industry and security, a position she held as she awaited confirmation from the Senate, a Commerce spokesperson said. Nikakhtar is no longer performing that duty and is now focused solely on her role as assistant secretary for industry and analysis. Her nomination has not yet been officially withdrawn.
China is not looking to escalate its trade war with the U.S. and wants to focus on removing tariffs, not adding them, a Chinese government spokesman said Aug. 28. “We are resolutely opposed to the escalation of the trade war and are willing to resolve the issue through consultation and cooperation in a calm attitude,” said Gao Feng, a commerce ministry spokesman, according to an unofficial translation of a press conference transcript. “The escalation of the trade war is not conducive to China, not to the United States, and is not conducive to the interests of the people of the world.”
Almost half of companies that responded to the U.S.-China Business Council's annual survey on the business climate in China said they have lost sales in China since the trade war began. The most common reason is because of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports to China, according to these 100 multinational firms based in the U.S. Another third said they lost sales because of U.S. tariffs.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Aug. 28 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Indonesia and Mozambique signed a preferential trade agreement Aug. 27 that will cut tariffs on trade in some products between the two countries, according to a report from the Mozambique News Agency. Under the deal, Mozambique will lower tariffs on 217 tariff lines covering fishery products, fruits, palm oil, margarine, rubber, soap, paper products, and textile products, according to a report in the Indonesian news magazine Tempo. Indonesia will cut tariffs for Mozambique on 242 tariff lines covering products including cotton, tobacco and nuts, Reuters said.
China will soon begin accepting a second round of applications for exemptions from its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, according to an Aug. 28 report from Xinhua, China’s state run news agency. The exemptions are for the tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods that China imposed Sept. 24, 2018. Companies can begin filing online applications for the exclusion process between Sept. 2 and Oct. 18, the report said. Xinhua said the China State Council’s Customs Tariff Commission will “offer temporary tariff exemptions or refunds of added duties” based on the applications. China also plans to launch an exclusion process for the most recent round of retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods announced Aug. 23 (see 1908230004).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released an Aug. 28 report on China’s increased tariffs on U.S. goods, including translations of the measures, their scope and descriptions of each product that will fall under the new tariffs. The report includes dates that tariffs will be imposed on each product. The report also includes separate lists of U.S. agricultural products, fisheries products and forestry products impacted by each round of additional tariffs.
The United Kingdom’s post-Brexit tariff plan may not be a viable long term option and may significantly damage certain U.K. farmers, companies and exporters, said Robert Chapman, a London-based trade lawyer with Mayer Brown.
In the Aug. 27 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Vietnam proposed a move to exempt import duties on car parts intended for the “assembly/manufacture of green/alternative fuel vehicles,” according to an Aug. 27 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The exemption would apply to parts imported before 2024, the report said.