The United States and Mexico announced new measures to prevent China and other countries from evading steel and aluminum tariffs

 

The United States and Mexico announced a measure on Wednesday (July 10th) local time aimed at restricting metal imports from China and other countries, saying those countries were shipping products through Mexico to circumvent tariffs.

 

The White House said that under a new policy implemented by U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,U.S. to impose 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum imports from Mexico, unless there is documentation that the steel was melted and poured in Mexico, the United States or Canada.

"Mexico and the United States took critical steps today to protect North American steel and aluminum markets from unfair trade practices," the White House said in a joint statement. "The two countries will implement policies to jointly prevent steel and aluminum duty evasion and strengthen the North American (Mexico, United States, and Canada) steel and aluminum supply chain."

 

It is worth noting that as early as August 15 last year, the President of Mexico signed the Executive Order on Amending the General Import and Export Tariff Law, announcing thatStarting from August 16, 2023, the most-favored-nation tariffs on a variety of imported products including steel, aluminum, and chemical products will be raised to 5% to 25%.

 

This means that steel and aluminum manufacturersIf products enter the US market through Mexico, they will have to pay high tariffs twice.

 

It is understood that among the products subject to anti-dumping duties listed in Mexico’s decree last year,Stainless steel from China and Taiwan; Cold rolled steel from China and South Korea; Coated flat steel from China and Taiwan;Imports of seamless steel pipes from China, South Korea, India and Ukraine will be affected by the tariff increase.

 

The additional steel tariffs announced by the United States this time are alsoPointing the finger at China(China is the world's largest steel producer), andAluminum tariffs will also affect production in China, Belarus, Iran and Russia.

Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), directly named China, saying, "We know that China is using countries like Mexico to evade U.S. tariffs, including tariffs specifically imposed to prevent China's massive industrial overcapacity."

 

“We must not allow China and other countries to exploit trade with their neighbors to evade U.S. trade enforcement.”

 

“We know Beijing is using countries like Mexico to dodge U.S. tariffs, including duties specifically put into place to deter China’s massive industrial overcapacity,” Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said. “China and other nations must not be allowed to exploit trade with our neighbors in order to avoid U.S. trade enforcement.”

 

 

Data shows that in 2023, the United States imported nearly $3 billion worth of steel, aluminum and other metals from Mexico through the Laredo Port of Entry in Texas. In other words, a large portion of steel and aluminum products enter the U.S. market through Mexico, and the sudden increase in tariffs by the United States has undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to these producers.

 

 

 

Is the United States targeting Chinese containers?

 

According to Observer.com, Bloomberg reported on July 1 that the Biden administration will change the previous tariff exemption for Chinese port cranes to a 25% tariff rate. This move has triggered widespread opposition from ports across the United States.

 

It is reported that ports in California, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Kiki Tai last week, clearly stating that there are no other viable alternatives to China's cranes and asking the Biden administration to cancel or postpone the tariff plan.

 

U.S. industry insiders said that if the Biden administration implements its policy of imposing tariffs on Chinese-made gantry cranes, it will cause U.S. ports to incur more than $130 million in additional costs, causing them to lose out in competition with other North American ports such as Canada and Mexico.

 

Earlier in mid-May, the United States released the results of the four-year review of the 301 tariffs imposed on China, announcing that on the basis of the original 301 tariffs on China, it would further increase tariffs on electric vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic cells, key minerals, semiconductors, as well as steel and aluminum, port cranes, personal protective equipment and other products imported from China.

 

In addition, there have been recent reports in the industry that the United States is investigating Chinese-made containers on the grounds of safety and monopoly.

 

It is understood that recently, U.S. House of Representatives member and South Dakota Republican Dusty Johnson included a clause in the latest defense bill, calling on Congress to study China's "monopoly on container production" and step up efforts to review the use of Chinese-made containers in the United States.The proposal proposes to charge an additional "port fee" to all Chinese-made container ships calling at U.S. ports.。

 

According to Cailianshe, in response to this issue, a person in the container industry told Cailianshe that the content of the bill is mainly aimed at the US defense procurement needs of containers, and is not the international standard container in the traditional sense that serves international trade and commercial purposes.

 

The US defense procurement containers account for a very small proportion of the global container demand. According to the "Department of Homeland Security US Customs and Border Protection Budget Overview 2023", the US defense container demand has an annual budget of about US$60 million. Based on the current market price, it can purchase about 30,000 TEU containers.

 

In the first half of 2024, China's shipbuilding industry surpassed South Korea and Japan with a market share of more than 60% in the global new shipbuilding market. The People's Daily Overseas Edition quoted the website of the US Wall Street Journal as saying," China has become the world's largest shipbuilding country by far."

 

 

BMW plans to ask the EU to reduce import tariffs on Chinese-made Mini electric cars

 

According to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, Germany's BMW has asked the European Union to reduce import tariffs on China-made electric Minis, which currently have the highest tariffs under EU temporary regulations. The move is aimed at including the model in the ranks of companies cooperating with the investigation, which will reduce the tariff level from the currently planned 37.6% to 20.8%.

 

The European Commission announced last week that it would impose temporary tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles imported into Europe, and electric vehicle manufacturers can comment until July 18. BMW's China-made Mini electric vehicles have only been produced for a few months and are not included in the sampling analysis before the EU announced the tariffs, so they will automatically be subject to the highest tariffs.

 

 

The Ministry of Commerce announced: Launching an investigation into trade and investment barriers against the European Union!

 

After the European Union launched an anti-subsidy investigation into a series of Chinese transportation and green energy companies, yesterday (July 10), China's Ministry of Commerce issued an announcement, announcing that it would conduct a trade and investment barrier investigation against the European Union in response to the relevant practices adopted by the European Union in its investigation into Chinese companies in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

 

The Ministry of Commerce stated in the announcement that it received an application formally submitted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products on June 17, 2024. The applicant requested an investigation into trade and investment barriers in relation to relevant practices adopted by the European Union in its investigation of Chinese companies in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation on Distortion of the Internal Market of the European Union and its implementing rules.

 

When the applicant submitted the application, the products mainly involved were railway locomotives, photovoltaics, wind power, security inspection equipment and other products.

    

The official announcement and detailed arrangements are as follows:

 

On June 17, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Commerce) received an application formally submitted by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (hereinafter referred to as the Applicant). The Applicant requested an investigation into trade and investment barriers in relation to the relevant practices adopted by the European Union in its investigation of Chinese companies in accordance with the Regulation on Foreign Subsidies that Distort the Internal Market of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the "Foreign Subsidies Regulation") and its implementing rules.

 

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China and the Rules on Investigations on Foreign Trade Barriers, the Ministry of Commerce reviewed the applicant's qualifications, the measures for investigation applied for, the products involved in the measures for investigation applied for, the negative impact caused by the measures for investigation applied for, and relevant evidence materials.

 

Upon review, the applicant meets the requirements of Article 5 of the Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation on the qualifications of applicants. The application and related evidence materials meet the requirements of Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Rules on Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation on the content of the application and related evidence required for initiating trade and investment barrier investigations.

 

According to the above review results, in accordance with Article 36 and Article 37 of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 12 and Article 35 of the Foreign Trade Barriers Investigation Rules, the Ministry of Commerce has decided to conduct a trade and investment barrier investigation on the relevant practices adopted in the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation investigation from July 10, 2024. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:

 

1. Investigation

As of the date of this announcement, the Ministry of Commerce will conduct a trade and investment barrier investigation on the relevant practices adopted by the EU in its investigation of Chinese companies in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation and its implementing rules.

 

II. Measures under investigation and products involved

The EU has adopted relevant practices in preliminary review, in-depth investigation and surprise inspection of Chinese enterprises in accordance with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation and its implementing rules. When the applicants submitted their applications, they mainly involved products such as railway locomotives, photovoltaics, wind power, and security inspection equipment.

 

III. Investigation Procedure

According to the "Rules on Investigation of Foreign Trade Barriers", the Ministry of Commerce may use questionnaires, hearings, field investigations and other methods to understand the situation from stakeholders and conduct investigations.

 

IV. Investigation Period

The investigation should be completed before January 10, 2025, and may be extended to April 10, 2025 in special circumstances.

 

V. Access to Public Information

The interested parties may download the non-confidential text of the application submitted by the applicant of this case from the sub-website of the Trade Remedy Investigation Bureau on the website of the Ministry of Commerce, or search, read, transcribe and copy the non-confidential text of the application submitted by the applicant of this case in the Trade Remedy Public Information Reading Room of the Ministry of Commerce (Tel: 0086-10-65197878). During the investigation, the interested parties may query the public information of the case through the sub-website of the Trade Remedy Investigation Bureau on the website of the Ministry of Commerce, or search, read, transcribe and copy the public information of the case in the Trade Remedy Public Information Reading Room of the Ministry of Commerce.

 

VI. Comments on the case

Stakeholders should submit their comments on issues related to case filing in written form to the Trade Remedy Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce within 20 days from the date of publication of this announcement.

 

VII. Submission and processing of information
When interested parties submit comments, questionnaires, etc. during the investigation process, they should submit an electronic version through the "Trade Remedy Investigation Information Platform" (https://etrb.mofcom.gov.cn), and submit a written version at the same time according to the requirements of the Ministry of Commerce. The electronic version and the written version should have the same content and the same format.

If an interested party believes that the information it provides will have a serious adverse impact after being leaked, it may apply to the Ministry of Commerce to treat it as confidential information and explain the reasons. If the Ministry of Commerce agrees to its request, the interested party applying for confidentiality shall also provide a non-confidential summary of the confidential information. The non-confidential summary shall contain sufficient and meaningful information so that other interested parties can have a reasonable understanding of the confidential information. If a non-confidential summary cannot be provided, the reason shall be stated. If the information submitted by the interested party does not state that it needs to be kept confidential, the Ministry of Commerce will regard the information as public information.

 

Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

July 10, 2024

 

 

 

Two major European ports suddenly went on strike!

 

Latest news: Before the start of a new round of negotiations, Ver.di, Germany's largest service industry union, has announced a warning strike at several ports:

 

The strike at the Port of Hamburg began at 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday (9th) and will last for 48 hours;

 

The strike at the Port of Bremerhaven will start at 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday (9th) and will last for 24 hours!

 

It is understood that the strike will continue until the next round of negotiations between German docks and unions begins on July 11 and 12.

 

Regarding the ongoing strike at major German ports, shipping company Maersk and the world's largest ocean freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel have both issued emergency notices!

 

 

Maersk: Hamburg, Bremerhaven vessels affected

 

Maersk said in the notice that negotiations between German terminals and unions have been going on for several weeks, resulting in strike action by union members, affecting Maersk's operations in the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Bremerhaven.

 

“The affected Maersk vessels in Hamburg and Bremerhaven will observe the duration of the strike and resume operations when port services are fully restored.”

 

At the same time, Maersk also warned: "As negotiations proceed,Circumstances may change in a short period of timeWe will continue to examine further contingency measures, if necessary, to reduce delays to our customers’ cargo.”

 

 

Kuehne + Nagel: Strike threatens supply chain operations for next two days

 

In addition, freight forwarding giant Kuehne + Nagel issued a notice stating that a new round of strikes announced by the Ver.di union threatens supply chain operations in the next two days.

 

“This strike involves all port workers and no services will be provided to ships during the strike period, which may lead to further delays to ships in the coming days.”

 

"No cargo will be picked up or unloaded during the strike. Any cargo space booked during this period will need to be rescheduled."
Kuehne + Nagel also said that rail transport will also be suspended in the next two days.

 

Separately, according to Kuehne+Nagel sources, German terminals expect delays to last several days as the strike coincides with the summer holidays.

 

 

 

Türkiye softens tariffs on Chinese auto imports to attract investment

 

Turkey has softened its recent decision to impose tariffs on imported Chinese cars to encourage investment by automakers, according to a presidential decision published in the official gazette of the Turkish government on the 5th. The gazette showed that the decision amended a decree issued in June.It is stipulated that no additional taxes or fees shall be levied on automobile imports within the scope of investment incentive policies.Earlier on June 8, Türkiye announced that it would impose an additional 40% import tariff on fuel and hybrid passenger cars originating from China.

 

BYD and the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology signed an agreement on investment and construction of a factory in Turkey on July 8. Turkish President Erdogan attended the signing ceremony. According to the agreement, BYD will invest about US$1 billion to build a factory and R&D center with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The factory is scheduled to start production at the end of 2026 and will provide jobs for up to 5,000 workers.

 

 

 

Brazil's new import tax rules: cross-border shopping can enjoy tax benefits

 

Previously, according to Brazilian government regulations, from 0:00 on August 1, 2024 (local time), a 20% import tax will be imposed on orders imported into Brazil with a value of no more than US$50.

 

On July 11, the Brazilian government promulgated Law No. 914/2024, announcing that the tax policy on cross-border shopping will be adjusted from August 1, 2024. According to the new regulations,Consumers who purchase goods through the "Conforme Remessa" program will be able to enjoy preferential import taxes if the value of the goods exceeds US$50. Although the tax rate remains at 60%, the new policy introduces a US$20 tax exemption, which will significantly reduce the tax burden on consumers.

 

This change is intended to encourage cross-border shopping, making the final tax rate for goods over $50 consistent with that for goods under $50. However, for goods worth more than $100, the tax rate is still close to 60%. The new law requires cross-border shopping platforms to clearly display tax details to buyers to ensure transaction transparency. It is expected that this policy change will have a positive effect on Brazil's cross-border e-commerce market and promote further development of the market.

 

 

 

Thailand imposes import tax starting from 1 baht

 

Thailand's VAT Fairness Act officially came into effect on July 5. This means that goods sold on cross-border e-commerce platforms with a price of less than 1,500 baht will no longer enjoy tax exemption, and low-priced imported goods and all fixed-price goods sold by Thai merchants will be subject to a fair 7% VAT. The new regulations will be valid until December 31, 2024. They are temporary measures intended to be implemented on a trial basis before further evaluation of the results.

 

Deputy Finance Minister Churaphan said the measure was a response to calls from the private sector after a large number of low-priced products entered the Thai market. The measure will ensure fairness for Thai products and is expected to take effect as soon as possible to help Thai small and medium-sized enterprise personnel.

 

 

South Africa imposes import duties on solar panels

 

According to the South African News 24-hour website on July 2, in order to establish local solar panel manufacturing capabilities in South Africa, South African Finance Minister Godungguana recently announced thatA 10% import tariff is imposed on solar photovoltaic panels, cells and modules.

 

The import tariff on photovoltaic products is one of the measures mentioned in the Renewable Energy Master Plan, which aims to create 25,000 jobs and attract 15 billion rand in new investment through green energy plans by 2030. The Renewable Energy Master Plan lists 49 possible market interventions to promote local manufacturing of solar, wind, lithium-ion batteries and vanadium battery storage technologies.

 

 

 

Adjustments to the reporting requirements for the departure date of imported goods

 

On July 9, the official website of the General Administration of Customs issued Announcement No. 81 of 2024 (Announcement on Adjusting the Reporting Requirements for the "Departure Date" of Imported Goods).

 

The reporting requirement for "Date of Departure" is adjusted from "the date on which the means of transport loaded with inbound goods leaves the port of departure" to "the date on which the inbound goods leave the first overseas port of shipment."

 

For goods that have not actually entered or left the country, fill in the date of declaration to the customs. If the declaration is made in the form of electronic data declaration form, fill in the date of transmission of declaration data to the customs computer system. If the declaration is made in the form of paper declaration form, fill in the date of submission of paper declaration form to the customs.

 

If a customs declaration contains goods with different departure dates, fill in the last departure date.

 

Original announcement:

http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/5978601/index.html

 

 

 

Source: First Shipping, Focus Vision, etc.
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