Sri Lanka recently proposed the phasing out of certain fees and tariffs, including para-tariffs on imports, the Customs Excise and Cess (CESS) levy and Ports and Airports Development Levy (PAL), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 1. The country proposed para-tariffs to be phased out in five years from Jan. 1, the CESS levy within three years, and the PAL within five years, except for levies on solar panels and inverters. Sri Lanka also will revise its “current three-band customs import duty system” of 0%, 10% and 15%, to 0%, 15% and 20%, respectively, HKTDC said.
U.S. share of global semiconductor design revenue has declined over the past decade, partly due to export controls and other trade restrictions, the Semiconductor Industry Association and Boston Consulting Group said in a report last week. If the U.S. continues on its path and doesn’t properly tailor its restrictions, U.S. shares of global revenues could drop 10 percentage points over this decade, the report warned.
A trade deal between Australia and India will officially take effect Dec. 29 after India’s government this week “completed its domestic requirements” to enact the agreement, Australia said. Beginning later this month, the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement will remove tariffs on 85% of Australian exports to India, while high tariffs on another 5% of goods will be phased down over time. Australia also said its importers will “save around $500 million in tariffs on imports of finished goods, and inputs to our manufacturing sector.” USDA warned earlier this year that the trade deal could pose challenges for U.S. trade, including for prospects of American food and agricultural products in the Indian market (see 2205060032).
A World Trade Organization dispute panel found that Indonesia's ban on the export of nickel ore violates global trade rules, circulating its decision on Nov. 30. Indonesia's president said the country will appeal the ruling, reported JakartaGlobe, an Indonesian news outlet.
World Trade Organization members during a Nov. 21-22 meeting of the Committee on Agriculture agreed to set up a new work program to tackle food security concerns of least-developed countries and net food-importing developing countries, the WTO announced. The decision effectuates a mandate in the 12th Ministerial Conference's Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity. Committee Chair Marcel Vernooij was appointed coordinator to facilitate the discussions under the initiative, the WTO said. Members also deferred until the next committee meeting in March the decision on the first triennial review of the operation of the Bali Tariff Rate Quota Decision.
Japan’s Diet gave its final approval for a new beef safeguard trigger under the U.S-Japan Trade Agreement (see 2206030006), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said last week. Both the U.S. and Japan are now working to complete all remaining “domestic procedures” to officially implement the new trigger, which could reduce the possibility that U.S. beef exporters face higher tariffs when shipping to Japan (see 2203240020). “The Protocol will ensure our farmers and ranchers continue to have access to one of the world’s most dynamic markets,” USTR Katherine Tai said.
China recently announced it will waive tariffs on 98% of taxable imports from nine African countries beginning Dec. 1, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported last week. The waived tariffs will apply to certain goods from Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, the report said. The measure will apply to 8,786 items, including certain agricultural products and chemicals, and will eventually expand to cover “all least-developed countries which have diplomatic ties with China.”
Semiconductor companies are still awaiting licensing decisions on their chip-related activities involving China under the U.S.’s new export controls, with some concerned that licenses awarded to their competitors could hurt their revenue. In earnings calls and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission this month, U.S. chip and technology companies said they continue to prepare for drops in sales to China and that they fear Chinese customers may soon replace them with alternative suppliers, causing some U.S. companies to permanently lose their market share in China.
World Trade Organization members began talks Nov. 18 on a range of e-commerce issues under its e-commerce work program, including on the best "way forward" for the e-commerce duty moratorium agreed to during the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in June (see 2206170010). Ambassador Usha Dwarka-Canabady, facilitator for the e-commerce work program, said there's a "sense of engagement from all members" on the moratorium and other e-commerce issues.
The European Council on Nov. 19 called on all U.N. members to fully implement sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council in response to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone last week. The council said North Korea is trying to "develop ever more menacing means to deliver weapons of mass destruction," threatening "all countries." In response, the council urged North Korea to comply with its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions and ditch all its nuclear weapons. "The EU recalls the duty for all UN Members to take action to fully implement sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council," the council said.