The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Feb. 5 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Argentina and Canada recently made antidumping and countervailing duty determinations on products from China, according to a Jan. 27 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Argentina ended its antidumping investigation on lawn mowers and weeders from China after finding a “lack of sufficient domestic industry support,” the HKTDC said. Canada determined that it will impose antidumping and countervailing duties on certain mainland Chinese decorative and other non‑structural plywood. Canada also began “re-investigations of the normal values and export prices” of certain carbon steel fasteners originating in or exported from China by Qifeng Precision Industry SCI‑TECH Corp. and Jiaxing-based Robertson Inc., the HKTDC said.
The U.S. moved to seize all oil aboard a Liberia-flagged vessel, the M/T Achilleas, via a forfeiture complaint filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the oil is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the IRGC-Qods Force, both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. The complaint alleges the IRGC and IRGC-Qods Force schemed to deliver the oil to a customer abroad and that the origins of the oil were disguised using ship-to-ship transfers, falsified documents, and other means to trick the owners of the Achilleas into transporting the oil, the Department of Justice announced in a Feb. 3 news release.
The U.S. has not publicly released all the companies that have applied for an extended period to get their North American-made vehicles into compliance with the tighter rules of origin, but both Canada and Mexico have published the list of 12 companies that have been approved. Since all three countries must approve alternative staging regimes, it follows that these companies' transition plans are cleared by the U.S., as well. The press office of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is in transition with a change in administrations.
The United Kingdom formally applied to start negotiations on its accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) -- an 11-member trade partnership that represents more than 9 trillion euros in economic activity. The inclusion of the U.K. would mark the bloc's first foray beyond the Pacific and expand CPTPP's proportion of global GDP to 16%.
The European Union recently issued guidance and Canada updated its frequently asked questions on the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The EU guidance covers rules of origin under the deal, including the process for declaring origin and details for a range of product-specific rules. Canada on Jan. 26 updated its FAQs, detailing how Brexit will affect market access for Canadian goods, and offering information on labeling requirements, tariff rates and more.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 29 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Turkey recently updated its import tariffs for certain nuts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Jan. 22. The country raised duties on in-shell and shelled walnuts to 15% for all origins, excluding countries with which Turkey has a free trade deal. FAS also said Turkey imposes an additional 10% duty on tree nuts imported from the U.S. in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on Turkish steel.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license authorizing certain transactions involving securities of companies that “closely” match the name of a company identified as a Chinese military company (see 2011130026), a Jan. 27 notice said. General License No. 1A, which replaced General License No. 1 (see 2101120026), authorizes the transactions through 9:30 a.m. EDT May 27 and past the original expiration date of Jan. 28. OFAC also added language to the license to specify that it does not authorize transactions with securities of entities listed on OFAC’s Non-Specially Designated Nationals Communist Chinese Military Companies List or Defense Department-issued lists (see 2101150006). The agency updated frequently asked questions 878 and 879 to reflect the change.
China and New Zealand updated their 12-year-old free trade agreement to increase trade in goods, revise certain rules of origin and address technical barriers to trade, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported Jan. 26. The deal's provisions include addressing trade barriers on certain wood and paper products and requiring New Zealand to lower its threshold for reviewing Chinese investments.