Malaysia recently ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, becoming the ninth country to join the deal, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 28. Malaysia will benefit from “access to new markets,” HKTDC said, adding that nearly all of the country’s exports to CPTPP countries will be duty-free by Jan. 1.
The Cambodia-Korea Free Trade Agreement (see 2111020018) will officially take effect Dec. 1, removing tariffs on a range of goods traded between the two countries, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 28. Among the items that will benefit are Cambodian textile and industrial exports and South Korean exports of automobiles, electronics, machinery and food.
Australia this week renewed its “punitive” tariffs on certain Russian and Belarusian goods to further penalize Russia for its war on Ukraine (see 2203310012). The measure, which will now remain in effect until October 2023, imposes an additional 35% tariff on imports from Russia and Belarus. Australia will also reject any requests for loans or other finance that support trade with or investment in Russia or Belarus. Energy imports from Russia are already prohibited, the country noted.
The World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization held a joint workshop Oct. 17 to discuss the periodic update of the Harmonized System, the WTO said. Parties to the workshop mulled over how updates to the HS could affect legal instruments recording tariffs and other commitments by WTO members with respect to trade in goods, in particular on schedules of concessions, the WTO said.
Although President Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration tariffs on Chinese imports during his campaign, and although his treasury secretary repeatedly said they contribute to inflation and some of them are harmful, trade lobbyists for UPS and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the tariffs are largely here to stay.
The Alliance for Trade Enforcement, a coalition of trade associations and business groups, says the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity needs effective dispute settlement to fulfill its promise for American exporters.
U.S. politicians are sending a mixed message on trade with Taiwan, experts said during an event hosted by the Hudson Institute, a right-of-center think tank mostly focused on foreign policy.
U.S. spirits exports are “gradually” rebounding after the EU and U.K. recently agreed to lift retaliatory tariffs against certain U.S. liquors, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. said last week. The U.S. exports, including whiskey, increased by about 20% from January to July compared with the same period last year, the council said. The EU suspended its 25% tariff on U.S. spirits for two years from Jan. 1, 2022, while the U.K. lifted its 25% tariff in June.
Singapore State courts sentenced Muhammad Rifa'ie Bin Mazlan Oct. 11 to 26 months in prison for conspiring to sell cigarettes for which duties had not been paid, Singapore Customs announced. A Singaporean national, Rifa'ie will also serve one month and 18 days in prison for possessing and using property "reasonably suspected" to be obtained from criminal conduct. He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Customs Act and two counts of violating Section 47AA of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act.
A shipment of lamb from the U.K. was exported to the U.S. for the first time in over 20 years, Britain's Department for International Trade said. In 2021, USDA agreed to allow British lamb to enter the American market, given that the needed inspections were carried out. This week, a shipment of lamb from meat processors Dunbia in Wales was flown to the U.S.