Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, speaking May 7 in New Delhi, chided India for its high tariffs and non-tariff barriers, blaming them for the trade deficit with the U.S. He did not acknowledge the termination of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits for India. Although the administration warned India could be terminated from the GSP program as of May 4, so far, that has not happened. However, Ross did tell a local TV station, according to Reuters, that retaliation for the end of GSP would be inappropriate.
The recent Global Conference on the future of the Harmonized System for tariffs and trade held by the World Customs Organization resulted in some broad policy recommendations, the WCO said in a news release. Those recommendations will now be sent to the WCO Policy Commission for consideration. The event, which took place May 2-3 at the WCO, included "over 300 participants from Member Customs administrations, partner international organizations, industry associations, trade professionals, import/export companies and academia," it said.
The African Continental Free Trade Area looks set to take effect in July during the next African Union Summit, according to a report in The East African. A total of 22 countries must ratify the agreement and submit their instruments of ratification, and 20 have done so, while another two have ratified but not yet submitted the paperwork. “The AfCFTA brings together a continental single market, which is expected to increase intra-African trade by 52 per cent come 2022, remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, liberalise services and tackle other barriers to intra-African trade,” the report said.
While the Chinese have not levied tariffs on U.S. aircraft, the top manufactured good China imports from the U.S., that could change if President Donald Trump follows through on his May 5 threat to hike 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent, one expert believes. Edward Alden, a trade expert and professor at Western Washington University, said that the Chinese have been seriously negotiating for five months, and if the U.S. walks away, they will hunker down for a long, protracted trade war. They could levy tariffs on airplanes, increase customs hassles for those U.S. firms exporting goods to China and create geopolitical trouble for the U.S.
The European Union and Vietnam plan to ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2019, according to a report from Vietnam's CustomsNews website, citing HSBC. The EU has scheduled trade discussions for May 28, the notice said. The agreement will increase trade and eliminate “virtually all tariffs on goods,” according to an announcement when several of the pact's agreements were adopted by European Commission in 2018. Vietnam will remove 65 percent of import duties on EU exports “with the remainder of duties being gradually eliminated over a 10-year period,” the EU said.
India is considering a “sharp” cut in import duties on gold and a decrease in the Goods and Services Tax on other “precious metals,” according to a May 3 report from the India Brand Equity Foundation. The cuts would reduce import duties on gold from 10 percent to 4 percent, the report said, but it is unclear how much a proposed tax change would cut duties on other metals. India’s current GST for precious metals is 3percent, the report said.
China will still send a delegation to meet with U.S. negotiators on a possible deal to resolve trade issues between the two countries, despite an announcement by President Donald Trump on May 5 to increase Section 301 tariffs against the country, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman. Trump tweeted that the U.S. will increase the current 10 percent tariff on $200 billion in goods to 25 percent on May 10, and may impose additional Section 301 tariffs on over $300 billion in Chinese exports.
An updated free trade agreement entered into effect May 1 between Argentina and Chile, complementing an existing agreement that has been in effect for more than 20 years, the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Relations said in a press release. While the existing trade agreement provides for duty-free trade in goods, the new agreement includes modern rules on investment, services, procurement, telecommunications and e-commerce.
Mexico is still a few weeks away from an updated list of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, Mexican Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Luz Maria de la Mora said in a recent interview, according to a report from the Mexican TV network Multimedios. The updated list will include agricultural and industrial goods as well as steel products, she said. That’s similar to the current composition of the current tariffs, imposed in June 2018 in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs (see 1903140025). Mexico will apply the updated tariffs for a few months, then see what the result is, hoping that the U.S. eliminates its Section 232 tariffs on Mexico, she said.
The U.S. trade war with China resulted in a 7 percent drop in goods exports -- $9 billion worth -- from 2017 to 2018, according to a new report from the U.S.-China Business Council. Even with the drop, the U.S. exported more to China in 2018 than it did in 2016. The report blamed China's retaliatory tariffs on about 85 percent of U.S. exports for the decline.