U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai drew a distinction between 35% tariffs on Russian goods, which she said are designed to punish that country's war of aggression, and 25% (or 7.5%) tariffs on Chinese goods, which she said are not punishing tariffs.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade extended until Oct. 10 the date for applications for tariff-rate quotas already issued under tariff head 7108 for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022-23, the DGFT said in an Oct. 6 notice. Also, the TRQ issued under tariff head 7108 for imports in the first and second quarter of FY 2022-23 will be revalidated until Nov. 30.
The Federal Maritime Commission released a notice of proposed rulemaking further refining prohibited practices for demurrage and detention, which is required under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA).
Florida lawmakers who have asked U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to start a Section 301 investigation on unfair support for Mexican produce exports are forum shopping after "prior U.S. government investigations have found that Mexican imports have not injured that segment of the U.S. industry," wrote 24 trade groups, mostly agriculture exporters, but also the National Retail Federation and Retail Industry Leaders Association.
India's Finance Ministry raised the import tax on platinum from 10.75% to a total of 15.4%, IIFL Securities reported. The publication said it assumed the rate hike was intended to close a loophole that permitted huge profits for metals importers since some importers brought in refined gold masked as a platinum alloy. The import tax on gold stands at 15%, while tax on platinum alloy is 10% -- and the publication said it appeared there was "defect" in the official notice in that it "did not explicitly describe precious metal alloys," creating the possibility of "misdeclaration and duty evasion."
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in an Oct. 4 notice clarified that a Sept. 28 notice banning the export of broken rice under Harmonized System code 10064000 does not apply to "Rice (5% and 25%)." The DGFT said that the normal rice had already been exempted and is not broken rice since it has permissible limits of broken rice. However, the exempted rice -- Rice (5% and 25%) -- will be subject to a 20% duty, per the original notice (see 2209090017), the DGFT said.
Tax credits for electric vehicles made in North America -- an element of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act -- deals a "body-blow" to the World Trade Organization beyond anything doled out under the previous administration, John Magnus, president of Tradewins, said in a post on the International Economic Law and Policy Blog. The tax credit "clearly signals" that the government does not weigh WTO-consistency when making policy decisions, and anyone concerned about the legitimacy of the world's largest multilateral trade organization should be concerned since the U.S. widened the prospect of flouting the WTO's rules, the blog post said.
African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits for Kenya need to continue as any trade partnership is formed, commenters said, especially the third-country fabric rule of origin.
U.S. agricultural exporters have “huge opportunities” in the Indo-Pacific and should prepare for expanded market access soon, said Alexis Taylor, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the USDA’s Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs undersecretary (see 2205160011). Taylor, speaking during a nomination hearing last week, said she hopes to work closely with other agencies on “trade parties” within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (see 2209190077) if she is confirmed.
Made in China 2025, China's public document of its ambitions for technology dominance, came out of Chinese officials' anxiety about their tech vulnerability due to integration of U.S. and Chinese supply chains, panelists said during a Peterson Institute for International Economics webcast Sept. 23 featuring PIIE scholars and an expert on China's foreign economic policy from the University of Maryland, Margaret Pearson.