General

New international trade regulations 1. The mainland suspends the import of 2,066 items of Taiwanese food

The General Administration of Customs announced on the evening of August 1 that some Taiwanese manufacturers violated relevant regulations and urgently stopped importing. According to statistics from Taiwan media on August 2, the mainland has suspended the import of 2,066 Taiwanese food products from more than 100 merchants, accounting for 64% of the total number of registered Taiwanese companies. The items include aquatic products, health products, tea, biscuits and beverages, etc. Among them, aquatic products have the highest proportion of banned items. , there are 781 pieces. Statistics show that there are many well-known companies among these companies, including Weige Bakery, Guo Yuanyi Foods, Weili Foods, Weiquan Foods and Taishan Enterprises.

On August 3, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Department of the General Administration of Customs and the Import and Export Food Safety Bureau issued the "Notice on Suspension of the Import of Citrus Fruits, Chilled White Hairtail and Frozen Horse Mackerel from Taiwan to the Mainland". According to a Taiwanese media report, last year, 86% of citrus fruits in Taiwan were exported to the mainland, and 100% of fresh or refrigerated leucorrhea were exported to the mainland.

In addition, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce said that in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, it has decided to suspend the export of natural sand to Taiwan. The relevant measures will be implemented from August 3, 2022.

The person in charge of a large food factory in Taichung lamented when asked by a Taiwanese media reporter, "It's very bad that the government wants to do this and let the people suffer." Another Taiwanese businessman said in an interview that the group chat in the industry was "sad and bleak".

New International Trade Regulations 2. The ninth edition of the "People's Republic of China Exit/Entry Health Declaration Card" was launched

According to the epidemic prevention and control situation at the port, the General Administration of Customs launched the ninth edition of the "People's Republic of China Exit/Entry Health Declaration Card" at 0:00 on August 31. Various Internet declaration channels, such as health declaration card WeChat applet declaration, Internet web page declaration, and handheld customs APP, simultaneously enable the new version of the declaration function.

The content of the ninth edition is more optimized: 1. The declaration requirements for nucleic acid test information, previous infection status, and vaccination date of entry and exit personnel have been cancelled. 2. Improvements or adjustments have been made to items that were easy for entry and exit personnel to have doubts in the past, which is more convenient for entry and exit personnel to understand and fill in. 3. The function of online determination of "Informed Consent for Sampling" has been added, making it more convenient for inbound and outbound passengers to simplify the on-site quarantine process, jointly do a good job in front-line health quarantine at ports, and protect the health and safety of the motherland and people behind them.

New International Trade Regulations 3. Implementation of the new version of the General Average Adjustment Rules of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

In order to adapt to the new situation and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the shipping economy, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) launched the revision of the Beijing Adjustment Rules in 2019 based on the latest changes in shipping practices and adjustment practices, and has now completed the revision of the rules. The newly revised "China Council for the Promotion of International Trade General Average Adjustment Rules" will be officially implemented from September 1, 2022, and the original "Beijing Adjustment Rules" will be abolished at the same time.

This revision incorporates the latest achievements and relevant regulations in the development of the international general average system, and promotes the specialization, standardization and internationalization of maritime services. The content is more concise and easy to understand, which is more conducive to promotion and implementation. It will help promote the high-quality development of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", help the healthy development of international trade enterprises, and better serve the construction of free trade ports with Chinese characteristics.

New international trade regulations 4. Some shipping companies impose peak season surcharges

From August 16, Maersk will impose a peak season surcharge (PSS) on all shipments from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea to Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, Australia. Among them, 750 US dollars per 20-foot container, 1,500 US dollars per 40-foot container, and 1,500 US dollars per 45-foot high container.

MSC Mediterranean Shipping: Service interruption surcharge (SDS) will be levied from August 15th. The scope of application is all goods sent from Asia to Northwest Continent (NWC) of Europe, and the specific fee implementation standard will be notified separately.

South Korea's largest container shipping company HMM issued an announcement reminding customers to pick up imported containers as soon as possible during the free period to avoid these surcharges; otherwise, the additional surcharges imposed by the terminal will only be transferred to customers.

New International Trade Regulations 5. The US "Chip and Science Act" was officially passed

On August 9, local time, US President Biden officially signed the "Chip and Science Act". This marks that the bill has officially become law.

Specifically, the eventually signed "Chip Act" will provide $52.7 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor research, development, manufacturing and workforce development, of which $39 billion will be used for manufacturing incentives and $13.2 billion for chip research and development and workforce development; $500 million to secure communications and semiconductor supply chains. In addition, it provides a 25% tax break for the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

The bill also imposes strict regulations on the use of these funds: companies that have accepted incentive bonuses will not be able to expand advanced production capacity in "concerned countries", including China, for ten years. Otherwise, the subsidy will be fully recovered.

New International Trade Regulations 6. Argentine Customs Strictly Check Imports

The Argentine National News Agency reported on August 4 that the Director of the General Administration of Customs of Argentina stated that the Argentine Customs has begun to rectify import and export trade violations. The first round of rectification actions involved 13,640 businesses and 722 companies, with a total FOB value of about 1.25 billion. Dollar.

According to the report, the rectification action mainly involves falsely reporting the price of goods in import and export trade, such as issuing low export invoices and high import invoices. Argentina will strictly investigate the illegal triangular trade, that is, the imported goods are from one country, but the invoices are from another country, and the invoice value is far more than the value of the goods.

Since Argentina imposed foreign exchange controls in 2019, the gap between the official exchange rate and the black market rate has widened, and there are now at least seven exchange rates in Argentina. So this kind of behavior is actually earning dollars domestically at the official exchange rate, which is unacceptable behavior in Argentina, which has no foreign exchange reserves.

In addition, Argentine customs also found a more serious fraud, that is, the importer declared that the import was a video card, but in fact it was "electronic waste" without integrated circuits.

Therefore, the Argentine Customs will now investigate and deal with these violations. A will give relevant companies 60 days to make rectifications, re-register relevant information, and activate the "foreign trade traceability system" to improve the transparency of capital flows.

New international trade regulations 7. Argentina makes preliminary anti-dumping ruling on China's vacuum cleaners

On August 2, 2022, the Ministry of Production and Development of Argentina issued Announcement No. 598/2022 made on July 29, 2022, making a preliminary affirmative anti-dumping ruling on vacuum cleaners originating in China, and a preliminary ruling to impose FOB prices on the products involved (FOB) 78.51% provisional anti-dumping duty. The measures will take effect from the date of publication of the announcement and will be valid for 4 months.

The product involved is a vacuum cleaner with a power of less than or equal to 2,500 watts, a dust bag or a dust-collecting container of less than or equal to 35 liters, and a built-in electric motor. Vacuum cleaners that operate with an external power supply and are designed to be connected to the electrical system of a motor vehicle.

New International Trade Regulations 8. Brazil announces reduction of MERCOSUR foreign tariffs

The Executive Management Committee of Brazil's Foreign Trade Commission (Camex) officially decided on Wednesday (17th) to reduce the rate of the MERCOSUR External Tariff (TEC) by 10%. The resolution took effect on September 1.

External tariffs are import tariffs used by MERCOSUR member countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). The introduction of a single tariff is to avoid tariff disputes within the group.

In addition, Brazil's Foreign Trade Commission has approved reductions in import duties on seven products, including airbags to protect motorcyclists, whey protein and food supplements, which are now included in the Common External Tariff Exception List (Letec). The tax cuts took effect on September 1. Import duties on these products will be cleared or reduced to 4%. Currently, their tariff rates range from 11.2% to 35%.

New International Trade Regulations 9. Turkey Raises Import Tariffs on Some Electric Vehicles

Turkey issued a presidential decree in the Government Gazette on July 27, adding a 10% additional tariff to electric vehicles imported from non-customs union or countries that have not signed a free trade agreement, with immediate effect. Electric vehicles imported from China, Japan, the United States, India, Canada and Vietnam will increase the price of the additional tariffs. In addition, tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China and Japan were raised by 20%. Industry insiders in the country said that affected by this, the price of related electric vehicles will increase by at least 10%, and the Tesla Model 3 manufactured at the Shanghai plant and sold to Turkey will also apply.

New international trade regulations 10. Pakistan lifts ban on import of non-essential and luxury goods

On July 28, local time, the Pakistani government lifted the import ban on non-essential and luxury goods that began in May. Import restrictions on fully assembled cars, mobile phones and home appliances will continue.

Total imports of prohibited goods fell by more than 69 percent, from $399.4 million to $123.9 million, due to the ban on imports of non-essential and luxury goods, according to a statement from Pakistan's Ministry of Finance. The ban has also had an impact on supply chains and domestic retail.

On May 19, the Pakistani government announced a ban on the import of more than 30 non-essential and luxury goods, in order to stabilize the dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising import bills.

New international trade regulations 11. Amazon updates FBA delivery process

In June, Amazon announced on the US, European and Japanese stations that it will officially stop the existing “send/replenishment” process from September 1 and enable a new process “Send to Amazon”.

From the announcement date, when a seller creates a new shipment, the system will direct the process to "Send to Amazon" by default, and sellers can also access "Send to Amazon" from the delivery queue by themselves.

Until August 31st, sellers can continue to use the old workflow to create new shipments, but after September 1st, "Send to Amazon" will be the only process for creating shipments.

It is worth noting that all shipments created by the old "ship/replenishment" process are also time-sensitive. The deadline given by Amazon is November 30, and the shipment plan that has been created before this day is still valid. Can be edited and processed.

New regulations for international trade 12. Guangzhou plans to introduce new regulations to build an international hub city for cross-border e-commerce

Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce organized the drafting of Several Policies for Promoting the Construction of Cross-border E-commerce International Hub City in Guangzhou (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as "Several Policies"), and publicly solicited opinions.

According to the "Several Policies", Guangzhou plans to provide financial support to newly introduced qualified cross-border e-commerce headquarters enterprises in accordance with the current investment promotion policies. At the same time, corresponding incentives will be given to cross-border e-commerce "brands going overseas" and the expansion of overseas warehouse layout, to encourage cross-border e-commerce enterprises in Guangzhou to become bigger and stronger.

The "Several Policies" clarify that cross-border e-commerce comprehensive service enterprises are encouraged to become bigger and stronger, and a certain number of cross-border e-commerce "Kylin" comprehensive service enterprises are selected every year: there are more than 50 import and export enterprises serving import and export enterprises. For cross-border e-commerce comprehensive service companies (B2B and B2C platforms, third-party service companies) that have an annual online transaction volume of more than 300 million yuan (including 300 million yuan) and are included in Guangzhou's statistics, a cap of 3 million will be given to those who enter the list for the first time A one-time reward of RMB. Support qualified cross-border e-commerce enterprises to apply for national high-tech enterprises. Those who have passed the first identification will be given a reward of 200,000 yuan, and those who have passed the re-accreditation will be given a reward of 100,000 yuan.