United States--exempt some Chinese products from additional tariffs
According to the latest statement issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on December 16, 2022, the tariff exemption applicable to 352 Chinese goods originally scheduled to expire at the end of this year will be extended for nine months to September 30, 2023.
The 352 items include industrial components such as pumps and motors, some auto parts and chemicals, bicycles and vacuum cleaners.
Egypt--cancel the letter of credit system and resume collection
According to news from the Pyramid Online website on October 25, Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouly said at the closing ceremony of the 2022 National Economic Conference that he will coordinate with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to cancel the mandatory use of import letters of credit within two months. The latest good news is that, according to the report of the Egyptian portal MASRAWY on December 29, the Central Bank of Egypt announced the cancellation of the documentary letter of credit system and resumed the collection of documents to process all import business.
Argentina--the stricter foreign exchange control makes payment a difficult problem
The Central Bank of Argentina issued Announcement No. A7466 on March 3, 2022. It will intervene in the application process of the Integrated Import Monitoring System (SIMI), and adopt new foreign exchange measures from March 4 to the end of 2022. In order to control the foreign exchange loss caused by the continuous growth of imports.
On June 27, 2022, the Central Bank of Argentina issued Announcement No. A7532, expanding the application of import foreign exchange control measures to the import financing system for services and non-automatic license products for a period of three months to September 30 this year.
On August 4, 2022, the Argentine National News Agency reported that Argentine customs began to rectify import and export trade violations. The first round of rectification involved 13,640 businesses and 722 companies, with a total FOB value of about 1.25 billion US dollars.
According to the report, the rectification actions mainly involve false declarations of goods prices in import and export trade, such as low export invoices, high import invoices, triangular trade - that is, imported goods come from one country, but the invoice comes from another country, and the invoice amount is far away the commodity value.
India--increased tariffs involving Chinese exports
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the new fiscal year (2022-23) to Congress on February 1, 2022. The new budget will rationalize the tariff structure of many products and cancel import tariff exemptions for up to 350 products , which is intended to promote the Make in India policy and promote the development of India's domestic manufacturing industry.
Everyday items such as umbrellas, earphones, headsets, speakers, smart meters and imitation jewelry will be subject to higher tariffs. Note that most of these products are imported from China!
The main changes are:
• Increase import tariffs on food, minerals and fuels, chemicals, IT electronics and renewable energy, machine tools, solar photovoltaics, etc.;
•Reduce import duties on textiles, gemstones and jewellery.
Bangladesh--increased tariffs involving Chinese exports
On February 8, 2022, the Bangladesh National Assembly approved the new Import Policy Regulations (2021-24). The regulations stipulate that Bangladeshi retail traders will be exempted from issuing a letter of credit for imports of goods not exceeding US$500,000, and will be settled in accordance with the contract and wire transfer.
From May 23, 2022, the Bangladeshi government will impose a 20% import regulatory tax (Regulatory Duty, also known as import adjustment tax) on more than 135 HS coded products to reduce imports, ease the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and curb the foreign exchange market fluctuation.
According to the document, the products are mainly divided into four categories, including furniture, cosmetics, fruit and flowers. According to the tariff breakdown of Bangladesh Customs, a total of 3,408 products need to pay import supervision tax at the import stage.
The main measures in terms of import control include:
• 15% VAT on laptop imports, bringing the total tax rate on this product to 31%;
• Substantial increase in car import duties;
• A 100% surcharge on imported four-stroke motorcycles and a 250% surcharge on two-stroke motorcycles with an engine capacity over 250cc;
• Cancellation of tariff concessions for imported COVID-19 test kits, special types of masks and hand sanitizers.
EU member states--carbon border tax collection enters transition period
On December 13, 2022, the Council of the European Union and members of the European Parliament agreed on the establishment of the "EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism" (CEMA) to balance the carbon price of EU products operating under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and imported goods carbon price.
The carbon border tax covers industries such as cement, fertilizers, aluminum and steel. From 2023 to 2025 is the transition period for the implementation, and carbon tariffs will be formally introduced in 2026.
Please note that 2023-2025 is the transition period of the EU CBAM, during which the importer will only undertake the declaration obligation and will not undertake financial obligations. During the transition period, importers are required to report quarterly the quantity of imported products, total embodied carbon emissions, total implied indirect emissions, and the carbon price paid for imported products in the country of origin.
Beginning in 2026, importers are required to pay a corresponding number of CBAM certificates based on the embodied carbon emissions of their imported products.
