General

On July 14, 2021, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Commission for Trade Development (UNCTAD) released the latest version of the "World Tariff Profiles 2021", which collated the tariffs of 135 countries around the world.

We sorted and sorted according to this table, and by measuring the average tariff, we summarized the 16 countries with the highest import barriers in the world.

Friends who are doing foreign trade, please be sure to collect them and keep them as a reference for developing the market.

#NO.1#

Bhutan 22.1%

Bhutan’s average tariff is as high as 22.1%, of which the average import tariff for textiles is as high as 24.3%, the average tariff for clothing is as high as 30%, and the average import tariff for machinery and equipment is also above 10%. India is Bhutan's largest trading partner and has a free trade agreement with Bhutan.

Since Bhutan is one of the smallest and most backward economies in the world, we will not go into details here.

#NO.2#

Iran 20.1%

Iran ranks second with an average tariff of 20.1%. The average import tax rate for clothing is as high as 55%, and the average tax rate for fruits and vegetables is also as high as 42%.

However, as an economic power in West Asia and North Africa, Iran not only has an advantageous geographical location, but also has a large population. It is also an important node country along the "Belt and Road" route. Iran's business opportunities for China are still considerable. Due to underdeveloped industry and relatively backward agriculture, Iran needs to import a large amount of production materials, spare parts and daily necessities every year.

In May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and subsequently imposed severe economic sanctions on Iran, which severely hit Iran's non-oil industry. The new crown epidemic in 2020 has dealt a heavy blow to Iran, and the epidemic has not yet been completely controlled. Iran put forward the concept of "production surge year" in 2020, which aims to accelerate the promotion of Iran's domestic production and reduce its dependence on external sources.

However, on March 27, 2021, my country and Iran signed the "China-Iran Comprehensive Cooperation Plan". This is a 25-year, comprehensive "action plan" that includes the political, economic, scientific and technological aspects of China and Iran. Terms of cooperation in other fields. The future of Sino-Iranian trade can be expected.

#NO.3#

Egypt 19%

Egypt ranks third with an average tariff rate of 19%, and one of the highest tariff rates is also clothing products, as high as 38.9%.

In fact, the Egyptian government has adopted a variety of methods to achieve the purpose of restricting imports. As we all know, Egypt's customs clearance is very troublesome.

The latest is the new Egyptian ACID (Advanced Cargo Information declaration) regulations that will be implemented soon on October 1. For all imported goods, the consignee must first forecast the cargo information in the local system to obtain the ACI Number and provide it to the shipment. People, this ACID number is required to be displayed on the bill of lading and manifest. If the ACID number cannot be provided, the goods will be forcibly returned to the port of shipment and a fine will be imposed.

For Chinese exporters, they need to complete registration on the CargoX website designated by the Egyptian government and cooperate with customers to upload necessary information. This CargoX certification requires a payment of 150 US dollars, and each subsequent shipment of goods uploading data will be charged more than 50 US dollars.

In addition, Egypt cracked down on under-reporting of invoices. If the invoice value of imported goods is less than the actual value of the goods, a fine of 10%-100% of the goods invoice value will be imposed on the balance of the concealed goods value.

#NO.4#

Algeria 18.9%

The average tariff rate in Algeria is 18.9%. Clothing has been shot again, and the average import tax rate is as high as 30%.

Algeria adopts a licensing system for the import of all final products. In addition, many Algerian importers will require 100% letter of credit, but some Algerian banks have breached the letter of credit, or fail to pay, return orders, or return calls without justifiable reasons, which have harmed the interests of exporters, and many of them are even Some state-owned banks.

On the other hand, the new regulations issued by the local government in Algeria are rarely notified in advance. They are usually implemented immediately with large variables. Therefore, Chinese exporters must carefully evaluate Algerian buyers!

#NO.5#

Cameroon 18.2%

Cameroon ranks fifth in the world with an average tariff of 18.2%. In 2020, the growth of China's exports to Cameroon is mainly driven by plastics, steel, and clothing, which will increase by 42.9%, 57.3% and 63.3% respectively.

#NO.5#

Zimbabwe 18.2%

Both Zimbabwe and Cameroon rank fifth in the world with an average tariff of 18.2%.

Zimbabwe experienced rapid development in the 1990s, but after the land reform began in 2000, Zimbabwe's economy began to fall into trouble. Since then, due to Western sanctions and hyperinflation, Zimbabwe's economic development has been severely hampered. South Africa is currently Zimbabwe's main trading partner. China mainly exports light industrial products, electromechanical and high-tech products to Zimbabwe.

#NO.7#

Gabon 17.7%

Gabon, a country in central and western Africa, ranks seventh in the world with an average tariff of 17.7%. The import and export of any commodities in Gabon are subject to inspection and quarantine. The National Center for Technology Transfer (CNTT) under the Ministry of Economy is responsible for commodity inspection and the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for quarantine. Gabon’s main source of imports is France.

#NO.8#

Comoros 15.8%

Comoros is an island country in Africa located in the Indian Ocean. Its trade volume is relatively small, so I will not analyze it in detail here.

#NO.9#

India 15%

India ranks ninth in the world with an average tariff of 15%.

Needless to say, India’s enthusiasm for import restrictions, especially targeting China, from the previous “Make In India” (Make In India) to the current “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Atmanirbhar Bharat), India has been committed to promoting localization in recent years. Production.

India’s frequent trade actions against China: not only withdrawing from “RCEP” at the last minute, in 2020, it will raise import tariffs on furniture, footwear, home appliances, mobile phone parts, toys and other products; "Indian goods-our pride" (Indian goods-our pride) campaign to boycott Chinese goods; Chinese apps were blocked 4 times throughout the year.

In February 2021, India once again raised import tariffs on about 30 products, involving electronics, automobiles, chemicals, leather and agricultural products.

In addition, the BIS certification of the Bureau of Standards of India has also made many foreign traders very troubled. At present, BIS certification covers almost every industrial field such as agricultural products, textiles, and electronics. More and more product categories exported to India are included in the category of compulsory certification products.

#NO.10#

Bangladesh 14%

Bangladesh ranks tenth in the world after India with an average tax rate of 14%.

However, Bangladesh is a member of ASEAN, and my country has a free trade agreement with ASEAN, so there can be preferential tax rates. my country is currently the largest source of imports for Bangladesh. It is worth noting that Bangladesh can only use the payment method of letter of credit for imports.

The reputation of Bangladesh’s commercial banks is generally poor. Many issuing banks operate in violation of regulations. In the business of Chinese companies’ exports to Bangladesh, they often encounter delays in payment time when there are no discrepancies in the spot letter of credit presentation. The customer placed the order without going through the payment procedures, and the customer filed a quality claim with the exporter after picking up the goods or viewing the goods, and the exporter was forced to reduce the price, resulting in economic losses. This situation mainly occurs in the export of fruits and vegetables (ginger, apple), chemical raw materials and textile raw materials.

Therefore, it is recommended that Chinese exporters carefully choose trading partners and issuing banks, purchase relevant foreign trade insurance, and do not accept any form of letter of credit issued by Bank of Bangladesh that does not have a good cooperative relationship.

#NO.11#

Venezuela 13.8%

Although Venezuela, a South American country, is rich in oil resources, its currency has plummeted, inflation is extremely bad, and the real economy is severely lacking.

#NO.12#

Uganda 13.7%

Uganda's industrial foundation is backward, and all the machinery and equipment, high-tech and other products needed for economic development rely on imports. Uganda's main import source countries are China, India, Kenya, UAE, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Japan, etc.

For the trade risks of Chinese exporters, we will discuss with Kenya below.

#NO.13#

South Korea 13.6%

The "China-Korea Free Trade Agreement" was formally implemented on December 20, 2015. After the agreement comes into effect, China will achieve 91% of the tariff target and 85% of the import value for products with zero tariff within the longest 20 years; South Korea's zero-tariff product will achieve 92% of the tariff target and 91% of the import value.

#NO.14#

Kenya 13.5%

Kenya is located at the "East Gate" of Africa and its geographical position is quite superior. Mombasa has the largest natural port in East Africa, and goods are re-exported to East and Central African countries.

The trade volume between Kenya and my country is also very considerable, but it should be noted that in the trade between Kenya and Uganda, there are often scams that use credit sales as the payment method. A typical case is to make purchases under the guise of a well-known company. The payment adopts D/A or O/A. There is basically no deposit. If the importer is suspicious, he pretends to be magnanimous and recommends that the importer conduct a credit guarantee investigation. But in the end, it was the scammers who picked up the goods at the port, not the credit insurance company, which eventually caused the exporters to lose their goods and the credit insurance was unable to pay.

Chinese foreign traders must pay attention to this typical scam!

#NO.15#

Argentina 13.4%

Among South American countries, Argentina and Brazil have the most trade barriers.

In 1991, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay jointly established the Mercosur, aiming to realize the free flow of goods, services, capital, and people among member states. Since January 1995, Mercosur members have implemented a common foreign tariff policy. According to statistics, including information technology and communication products and capital goods, Argentina has imposed common external tariffs on approximately 85.2% of product imports.

The current high tariffs in Argentina have caused dissatisfaction among all other Mercosur member states. They all hope that all common external tariffs will be reduced by 10%, but Argentina does not agree and only agrees to reduce tariffs listed in the tariff code by 75%.

No way, Argentina’s foreign exchange reserves have been exhausted. In January of this year, Argentina began to implement foreign exchange controls on imported luxury goods and certain finished products.

#NO.16#

Brazil 13.3%

Due to the severe impact of the new crown epidemic, Brazil has been reducing import tariffs on a variety of products this year, so I believe this ranking can be rewritten in 2022.