On Feb. 1, the terms of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a key 14-member trade pact, for goods from South Korea, will enter into force in China, the General Administration of Customs said, according to an unofficial translation. The announcement includes two documents from China Customs: one is of items mentioned in the RCEP agreement that are being added to China's special goods exported to South Korea list; the other adds the format of the certificate of origin mentioned in the agreement to the format of the COO renewal page.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Jan. 21 by email. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15, but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Jan. 28.
At a virtual World Economic Forum, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the director-general of the World Trade Organization and CEOs in manufacturing and shipping said traders will change the ways they manage supply chains because of lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tai said "the pandemic in particular has laid bare vulnerabilities in this version of globalization that we have and existing supply chains that we all feel strongly that we need to address."
The U.S. this week imposed new sanctions against Russia for its “destabilizing” activities in Ukraine and privately previewed a harsher set of potential trade restrictions, including major new export controls on chip equipment. Although it remains unclear if those specific export restrictions would be coordinated with allies, the U.S., Germany and the U.K. all said Jan. 20 that they are ready to impose “massive consequences and severe economic costs” on Russia if it continues down a path to war.
Vietnam recently amended its rules for goods labeling on imports, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 19. The changes, which include revisions to ingredients and additives labeling requirements, take effect Feb. 15. Vietnam requires the label to specify the good's name, origin, manufacturer and country of origin, HKTDC said, and it also must include an extra label in Vietnamese if the original label is in a foreign language. Vietnam also lists a set of “approved phrases” for information on the origin, including “made in,’ “manufactured in,” and “producing country.” The labeling requirements include certain exceptions and don’t cover goods temporarily imported for reexport, transshipment or temporary exhibition and goods in transit, HKTDC said.
The threat of a California port surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers has proved very successful at clearing cargo off docks, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said during a Jan. 19 House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing. He said the fee threat has substantially helped trade flows at both Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, which announced the charge in October but has postponed enforcing it each month since (see 2201140055). “That fee has never been implemented and we've not collected a dime, but incredible progress has been made to move cargo off our docks,” Seroka said.
Terminal operators at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports this week said its traffic mitigation fee will return to normal levels Feb. 1 after proving ineffective. The adjusted fee was originally announced In November by the West Coast Marine Terminal Operator Agreement to help incentivize the movement of containers during off-peak hours (see 2111120022). The fee, in place from Dec. 1 through Jan. 31, was intended to “create a financial incentive” to move containers during off-peak hours by only charging the fee during peak hours,” the WCMTOA said in a Jan. 18 news release.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Jan. 14. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15, but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Jan. 21.
A bill that would have imposed sanctions on companies associated with the Russia-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline was rejected by the Senate Jan. 13 after it failed to garner the necessary 60 votes to pass. The bill, introduced in December by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex. (see 2201110059), faced strong opposition from the White House, which said before the vote that the bill would “only serve to undermine unity amongst our European allies,” including Germany (see 2201110059).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week fined a Hong Kong company more than $5.2 million after it illegally bought more than 64,000 tons of Iranian thermoplastic, the largest fine by OFAC in more than a year. The agency said Sojitz illegally bought the Iranian “high density polyethylene resin” from a Thai supplier to sell to Chinese consumers. OFAC determined the case to be non-egregious, partly because senior compliance officials weren’t aware of the illegal purchases and had repeatedly told its employees that they could not buy Iranian goods with U.S. dollars.