While the U.S. should look to counter China with export controls, tariffs and outbound investment restrictions, it also needs to better incentivize trading partners to diversify their supply chains away from China, the Atlantic Council said this week.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company denied allegations by the Federal Maritime Commission that it knowingly violated U.S. shipping laws, calling a proposed $63.2 million FMC penalty "excessive and unlawful.”
World Trade Organization members taking part in the Committee on Rules of Origin's April 29 meeting discussed ways to improve the "functioning of the committee" and use digital tools to "facilitate the work of delegates," the WTO said. Members discussed various measures to improve the committee, which included revamping the "rules of origin gateway page on the WTO website" by adding a guide for new delegates on the committee's work and an events page.
An EU-New Zealand trade agreement that eliminates tariffs on EU goods such as "pig meat, wine and sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar confectionary and biscuits," entered into force May 1, the European Commission announced. Under the deal, "sensitive EU agricultural products such as beef, sheepmeat and dairy products are protected with carefully designed tariff rate quotas." EU investors will also receive nondiscriminatory treatment in New Zealand and EU companies will receive greater access to New Zealand procurement contracts, the commission said.
The free trade agreement between China and Ecuador will enter into force May 1, China's Ministry of Commerce announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the agreement will cancel tariffs on about 90% of goods, with 60% of them to take effect immediately on the day the agreement takes effect. The two countries will establish closer ties in areas such as "rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical trade barriers, trade remedies, dispute settlement, investment cooperation, e-commerce, competition, economic cooperation and so on."
A "snapshot" report just released by the Government Accountability Office reminded Congress that the GAO has studied -- and made recommendations -- on many aspects of how to manage economic competition with China, including providing more resources to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, improving information sharing with companies to keep more counterfeits out of U.S. commerce, and improving the tariff exclusions process for steel and aluminum imports.
The Aluminum Association cheered the Mexican decision to apply tariffs to 544 tariff lines in aluminum and aluminum products. The tariffs are as low as 5% or 10% on some products, but are 25% and 35% on most.
Costa Rica recently restored tariffs on non-U.S. origin rice, “instantly boosting U.S. rice competitiveness through preferential access negotiated in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR),” USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report last week. The 35% tariff had been removed in August 2022, but was restored April 11 after a court found against the removal. “Industry and government sources confirmed Costa Rican importers have already taken steps to import more U.S. rice in 2024,” the report said.
U.S. exports of semiconductors and their components to China dropped 39% to $6.8 billion in 2023 and were down 52% from their 2021 peak, partly due to restrictions the Bureau of Industry and Security released in October 2022 and expanded a year later (see [Ref:2310170055), the U.S.-China Business Council said April 23.
The Canada Border Services Agency will delay its next deployment of its Customs Assessment and Revenue Management system until October, the agency said last week. CBSA had been scheduled to launch the automated duty collection system on May 13, but will now only do so internally, pushing back the release of the trade-facing aspects of CARM.