China is creating a list to penalize foreign entities that damage the interests of Chinese companies, a sweeping but vague move widely viewed as a direct response to U.S.’s recent blacklisting of Huawei Technologies.
Lebanon recently imposed a 2 percent tariff on all imports until 2022 except for “pharmaceuticals, electric cars, and raw materials for industrial and agricultural products,” according to a May 30 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Lebanon also announced a 10 percent tariff rate will apply to 20 products that include certain foods, clothing and “industrial components” that are “deemed as being ‘dumped’ onto the Lebanese market,” the report said. Other products included under the 10 percent tariff are “flour, dairy products, detergents, furniture, leather shoes, bulgur, electrical machinery, aluminium profiles, clothes, wafers and biscuits, vehicle bodywork, metal pipes, confectionary and gums, marble and granite tiles,” HKTDC said. The tax, placed on products the country believes are “being imported in large quantities at prices lower than those produced locally” will be subject to the tariff for five years, the report said. The move was made after a May 22 Lebanese Cabinet meeting, HKTDC said. The report said the tariff increase was intended to reduce trade imbalances and spur local production. Lebanon’s Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour said “this will protect the Lebanese manufacturing sector, contribute to lowering trade deficit and revive a large number of industries," according to the report.
China bought about 13 million metric tons of American soybeans since December, when President Donald Trump decided to hold tariffs at 10 percent on List 3 of the Section 301 actions. But according to a new report from Bloomberg, those purchases have stopped. Officials told Bloomberg reporters that previously contracted sales will be honored. China may need fewer soybeans from any source because of the African swine flu epidemic crimping demand for livestock feed, the report noted.
The temporary general license issued by the U.S. after it added Huawei Technologies to its Entity List has offered “almost no relief” for the U.S. semiconductor industry, which has been hurt severely by the move, said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Speaking on U.S.-China trade issues at a Washington International Trade Association discussion on May 29, Neuffer underscored the importance of the Chinese market to U.S. semiconductor exporters and called on the Trump administration to more tactfully negotiate with China. “We would like the U.S. government to better balance its national security concerns with its economic security concerns,” Neuffer said.
U.S. exporters and others expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s May 30 threat to impose new tariffs on Mexico, saying the move would lead to retaliatory measures and would significantly damage U.S. manufacturers and farmers.
Canada updated the Customs Tariff with a list of subheadings covered by the final safeguards for steel goods, according to an order to amend the import control list published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The country announced plans to impose final safeguards on steel plate and stainless rod in April (see 1904040051).
China plans to begin the exclusion application process on June 3, according to a scrolling notice on the China Ministry of Finance website. "The first batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from June 3, 2019," the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. "The deadline is July 5, 2019. The second batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from September 2, 2019. The deadline is October 18, 2019." China announced it would initiate an exclusion process when it increased tariffs on U.S. goods in response to increased U.S. tariffs on goods from China (see 1905130043). That process is seen by some as indicative of a long trade war ahead (see 1905140034).
China is finding ways other than tariff increases to retaliate against U.S. exporters, further damaging the U.S.’s struggling agricultural export sector, panelists said during a Washington International Trade Association discussion on U.S.-China trade. The expected retaliation from China -- along with stalled trade negotiations and the increased difficulty of accessing China’s markets -- could lead to crippling, long-term consequences for some U.S. exporters, the panelists said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released a report on Turkey’s decision to reduce tariffs on U.S. products in response to the U.S.’s May 16 decision to reduce tariffs on Turkish steel imports. In the report, USDA includes the current tariff levels for certain U.S. agricultural products, including nuts, rice, tobacco and “fuel wood.” Turkey’s tariff changes took effect May 21, the report said (see 1905220047).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 20-24 in case they were missed.