The Philippines reduced import tariffs on mechanically deboned or mechanically separated poultry by 5 percent for chicken and 20 percent for “frozen whole turkey,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a notice published July 8. The rates were previously set at 40 percent due to the country’s recent passage of the Rice Tariffication Law, the notice said. The changes took effect June 13 and extend until Dec. 31, 2020, the notice said.
As the Trump administration pushes for export controls on certain firearms to be transferred from the State Department to the Commerce Department, top Commerce officials said the move should not be a cause for concern and said they are welcoming feedback from the public and members of Congress.
The Commerce Department is reviewing export license applications to sell to Huawei in order to “mitigate as much of the negative impacts of the entity listing as possible” and hopes to have decisions “soon,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, Commerce undersecretary for the industry and security.
The African Continental Free Trade Area officially went into "operational phase" on July 7 after an African Union summit meeting in Niamey, Niger, the African Union said in a July 7 news release. "The AfCFTA will be governed by five operational instruments, i.e. the Rules of Origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system and the African Trade Observatory," the AU said. Actual trading with reduced tariffs among the 54 member states under the AfCFTA isn't expected to begin until July 2020.
Brazil is considering lowering import duties on information technology goods, from 16 percent to 4 percent, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a July 2 report. The move would cover items such as cell phones and computers. The announcement came after Brazilian government officials suggested lowering tariffs would boost the competitiveness of Brazilian companies in the IT sector. Brazilian industry associations have had mixed responses to the potential change, the report said. The Brazilian Electrical and Electronic Industry Association said the move would hurt Brazilian businesses and lead to job losses, while the Association of Brazilian Information Technology Companies reportedly said the move would “boost overall competitiveness despite some adverse effects to certain sectors.” The Brazilian Semiconductor Industry Association said the move would force foreign companies out of the country, shrink the Brazilian industrial sector and lead to an increase in imports, which would hurt domestic semiconductor manufacturing, the report said.
The Commerce Department posted an updated version of its "Foreign Retaliation Product Scope Matrix" that lists U.S. goods that are included in various countries' retaliatory tariffs. The list includes the affected subheadings and which country's tariffs include the subheadings. The list includes the retaliatory measures by China, the EU, India, Turkey and Russia.
Exporters that produce and send goods from Puerto Rico to China may be able to avoid some of the tariffs on U.S. goods by using the U.S. territory as the origin, said Susie Hoeger, director of Global Trade Compliance and Policy at Abbott Laboratories. Hoeger mentioned the tip while speaking at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference in Washington on June 27. "Chinese Customs has chosen to treat Puerto Rico differently than the U.S.," she said. "So if you don't know this and make things in Puerto Rico, declaring that as Puerto Rico origin instead of U.S., which is all the same for us, the tariffs don't hit. They've chosen to carve that out for some reason." Census Bureau statistics seem to show a recent uptick in exports to China from Puerto Rico. According to Census, the value of goods exported from the territory to China increased by 53.6 percent from 2017 to 2018.
If the Iran nuclear deal collapses and Europe imposes a set of automatic snapback sanctions, the U.S. would likely follow with its own set of additional Iran sanctions, including greater enforcement on non-U.S. entities and sanctions on Iran’s trading partners, said Inessa Owens, a trade lawyer with Baker McKenzie.
The Commerce Department will continue its presumption of denial policy for license applications for exports to Huawei, a Commerce spokesperson said July 3, adding that the China tech company remains on Commerce’s Entity List. Commerce will review export license applications for “their national security impacts” and plans to review licenses “under the highest national security scrutiny,” the spokesperson said.
The president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation praised President Donald Trump’s recent decision to loosen restrictions on exports to Huawei, saying criticism of the announcement “misses the point.” In a blog post, Robert Atkinson said “it does not appear” that Trump agreed to permanently lift the Huawei ban, but only to temporarily allow Huawei to import U.S. products to ease trade tensions in the pursuit of a deal with China. “Presumably he has made it clear to [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] that if China does not play ball, the ban could and would resume,” Atkinson said. “It is highly unlikely that Xi would have or could have agreed to reopen negotiations without this ‘concession.’” The statement followed Trump’s announcement at the G-20 Summit in Japan that he would be easing restrictions on Huawei, which includes allowing U.S. companies to sell “general merchandise” to the tech giant (see 1907010050).