China again extended its Section 301 retaliatory tariff exclusion period for sorbitol and other non-U.S. agricultural goods, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a September report. The exclusion period was scheduled to expire Sept. 15 but now will remain in effect until April 20, 2024. USDA said this is the sixth time China has extended the exclusion period for sorbitol, adding that the U.S. was the second-largest supplier of sorbitol to China in 2022, with Chinese imports reaching $1.4 million.
A recent increase in the U.K.’s alcohol tax rate may “challenge” U.S. alcohol exports to the country, although it’s “too early to tell” how much of an impact the change will have, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Sept. 18 report. The new duty, effective Aug. 1, is an excise tax charged at the point of production or importation of drinks exceeding 1.2% alcohol by volume, USDA said, and could lead to a shift toward more purchases of “alternative alcoholic beverage categories.” Drinks with ABV above 8.5% now face a $35.67 tax for each liter of pure alcohol in the product, the agency said, adding that products with lower alcohol content but that previously faced higher taxes due to their type of alcohol will now face lower taxes.
The World Trade Organization on Sept. 15 released a new publication covering export controls. The report looks at "how WTO members have used different international agreements" beyond the trade body as grounds to set export regulations to support initiatives in "environmental protection, hazardous waste management, weapons control and combating illegal drugs trade."
China’s commerce ministry is paying “close attention” to a decision by Mexico in August to raise tariffs on imports of steel and other items from non-free trade agreement countries, a ministry spokesperson said last week. “Although this measure does not target specific countries,” China is monitoring its impact, the spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation. “Judging from historical experience, raising tariffs will increase the production costs of downstream industries and reduce consumer welfare," the spokesperson said, adding that China hopes Mexico "will adhere to the principles of free trade and use such measures with caution.”
A think tank with roots in libertarianism that now supports a carbon tax warned that members of Congress who want to pass a carbon border adjustment tax without a domestic carbon tax face more than just litigation at the World Trade Organization.
A former Office of the U.S. Trade Representative career negotiator and a former Trump administration trade adviser say that even if the U.S. is not going to reenter into a tweaked Trans-Pacific Partnership -- as they advised in an earlier think tank piece -- the U.S. needs to take trade negotiations in Asia more seriously to not get left behind.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said India will reduce tariffs on fresh, frozen, dried or processed blueberries and cranberries, and will reduce tariffs on frozen turkey and duck.
The Senate Agriculture Committee's chairwoman and ranking member are asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to use money available in the Commodity Credit Corporation to "open access to markets," and to send U.S. grown crops as humanitarian aid.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said India will officially end its tariffs on American apples and pulse crops this week as part of an agreement the two countries reached in June (see 2306230038). The tariffs were placed on certain U.S. goods in retaliation for the Trump administration’s Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs. “In removing these retaliatory tariffs, our apple growers can now accept orders from India and growers could be making shipments as early as this Fall,” Cantwell said in a Sept 5 statement. “With over a billion people, this is one of the world’s largest markets and represents a significant growth opportunity for Washington growers.”
China will allow imports of beef from Nicaragua that meet certain inspection and quarantine requirements, the country’s General Administration of Customs announced Sept. 1, according to an unofficial translation. The announcement came one day after the two countries signed a free trade deal that will reduce certain tariffs, and import and export restrictions on certain goods (see 2308310020).