Australia’s trade agreements with Hong Kong, Peru and Indonesia will provide significant benefits for Australian importers, including a series of reduced tariffs on a “broad range” of goods, according to a Jan. 20 KPMG post. Deals with Hong Kong, which took effect Jan. 17; Peru, which takes effect Feb. 11; and Indonesia, which is expected to take effect during the first half of 2020, will “deepen economic cooperation” and “increase certainty in trading” with all three countries, KPMG said.
Most aspects of the United Kingdom’s trading environment will remain the same for U.K. companies during the Brexit transition period, according to Kevin Shakespeare, director of stakeholder engagement at the Institute of Export and International Trade. But there are some important developments companies should monitor, including a changing trade relationship with Ireland, preparing for new customs procedures and an unclear environment surrounding origin of goods. Perhaps most importantly, Shakespeare said, U.K. traders need to maintain communication with customers, suppliers and stakeholders to retain their confidence during the transition period.
In the Jan. 17-21 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 17 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Singapore Customs will transition from hard copies to emails for all correspondence relating to certificate of origin matters, the agency said in a Jan. 17 notice. This includes correspondence relating to the agency’s “circular or notices,” manufacturer registration or renewal letters, verifications of cost statements and letters of acknowledgement. Singapore is advising companies to update their contract information, particularly their email addresses, so they can continue correspondence with Singapore Customs. The agency will transition to emails by Feb. 15 and will “cease acceptance” of hard copy manufacturing cost statements by March 1, the notice said.
The Commerce Department issued a Jan. 15 order temporarily denying export privileges for five people and five companies for involvement in an international procurement scheme to illegally export U.S. items to Pakistan. The scheme, announced in an indictment recently released by the Justice Department (see 2001150040), involved Muhammad Kamran Wali of Pakistan, Muhammad Ahsan Wali and Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh of Canada, Ashraf Khan Muhammad of Hong Kong and Ahmed Waheed of the United Kingdom. It also involved Business World of Pakistan, Buziness World of Canada, Business World of Hong Kong, Hong Kong-based Industria Hong Kong Ltd. and Pakistan-based Product Engineering. The scheme involved attempts to export items to Pakistan’s Advanced Engineering Research Organization (AERO) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), both of which are on the Entity List. The order denies their export privileges for 180 days from Jan. 15.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed the new NAFTA, though it wasn't by quite as wide a margin as in the House, where more than 95 percent of votes were for the trade pact. The vote, which happened just before the reading of the impeachment articles against President Donald Trump on Jan. 16, was 89-10, with only one Republican voting no. Most of the Democrats who voted no did so because the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement doesn't address climate change.
The Commerce Department is close to publishing a rule that will expand its authority to block shipments of foreign made goods to Huawei, according to a Jan. 14 Reuters report. The rule would lower the U.S.-origin threshold on exports to Huawei to 10 percent, Reuters said, and expand the purview to include “non-technical goods like consumer electronics” and “non-sensitive chips.” Commerce sent the rule to the Office of Management and Budget after an interagency meeting last week, the report said. A top Commerce official recently confirmed the agency was considering a range of expanded restrictions of foreign exports to Huawei, including changes to the Direct Product Rule and a broadened de minimis level (see 1912100033).
The Senate passed the U.S-Canada-Mexico Agreement, the replacement for NAFTA, with an 89-10 vote. Now the implementing bill heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed. The Canadian parliament must also still ratify the agreement.
Mexico recently renewed import restrictions on certain used motor vehicles until Dec. 31, 2020, according to a Jan. 8 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Among several restrictions, certain used vehicles may not be imported if their circulation is prohibited in their country of origin, if they have been reported as stolen or if the vehicle does not comply with “physico-mechanical properties and environmental protection requirements,” the HKTDC said.