In the May 17 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Guatemalan customs authorities will now allow multiple corrections to Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) certificates of origin, reversing a previous policy that only allowed COOs to be corrected once for imports from the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a May 16 report. Implemented beginning April 26, the new policy “will help expedite the clearance of imported U.S. products, saving importers tens of thousands of dollars and make the import process more transparent,” the report said. Under the new policy, the COO can be corrected multiple times within 15 calendar days of written notification, which will also be provided by Guatemalan customs under the new policy.
The Canada Border Services Agency is looking closely at surtax payments due on imports from the U.S. that were required as part of Canada's retaliatory tariffs, a CBSA spokesman said May 17. "The CBSA has been analysing import data and conducting compliance activities to verify that the correct amount of surtax was paid by importers since the summer of 2018," the spokesman said by email. "These activities are continuing on an ongoing basis and additional assessments of surtax owing are issued where appropriate." KPMG recently noted an uptick in CBSA audits on the surtaxes (see 1905130062).
In the May 16 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The 25 percent Section 232 tariffs on Canadian steel and the 10 percent tariffs on aluminum will be removed within 48 hours, Canada and the U.S. said May 17. When the metals tariffs are removed, Canada will also roll back its retaliatory tariffs, which hit American metals and agriculture, as well as some prepared food. The joint statement said stricter customs enforcement to prevent transshipment will be coordinated between Canada and the U.S.
In the May 15 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The European Union is ending its antidumping duties imposed on imports of bioethanol from the U.S., it said in a notice. Ending the AD duty order likely wouldn’t cause a recurrence of dumping by U.S. exporters, the EU said. The repeal takes effect May 16. The duties had originally been imposed in 2013 at a rate of €62.30 ($69.80) per metric ton.
Ukraine announced a series of economic sanctions against Russia that increased duty rates on a variety of imported goods and implemented an embargo on Russian cement and plywood, according to an unofficial translation of May 15 press releases from the Ukraine government.
In the May 13 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
India again delayed retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., pushing the new start to June 16, according to a notice from India’s Ministry of Finance. The tariffs, first announced in May 2018, will target agricultural products, motorcycles, steel products, and phosphoric and boric acid, and are aimed at offsetting the $241 million in duties India expects its U.S. customers to pay on its steel and aluminum exports. The tariffs have been delayed multiple times after they were originally expected to take effect in June 2018. Many of the items already face high tariffs -- walnuts are taxed at 100 percent, fresh apples at 50 percent, chickpeas at 60 percent, motorcycles at 100 percent -- but the actions would add 10 percent more to many ag products, 20 percent more to walnuts and almonds, and 50 percent more to motorcycles.