Groups Recommend Trade Facilitation Measures for Chinese Customs
China’s customs regime could benefit from standardized procedures across all ports as well as joint work between the U.S. government and Chinese Customs to stop counterfeits from leaving China, trade groups said in comments to the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) regarding China’s adherence to its World Trade Organization commitments.The U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) detailed several aspects of how China can improve its customs administration, calling for the U.S. to ensure China posts annual changes to its Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) at least three months before the effective date, establishment of a bilateral customs dialog, and private-sector sharing of best practices to enhance an automated clearance process laden with “uncertainty and inefficiencies.”
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Among other things, USCIB said in its comments there should be improvement in the clarity of parameters for export and import controls criteria for consistent application of compliance requirements. The U.S. government recently posted comments on China’s meeting of WTO commitments that the TPSC collected through Sept. 20, which is an annual information collection (see 1708010012). USCIB also called for better transparency and consistency of customs enforcement across all Chinese ports and for the U.S. government to work with Chinese Customs to build on recent progress to simplify Chinese bonded transfer mechanisms so goods transiting locations that aren’t “international gateways” can flow seamlessly through China’s gateway airports into international trade networks. “Current customs procedures conversely create incentives to operate hubs outside of China, which damage the interests of firms and local governments who have invested in hubs in China,” USCIB said.
The U.S. government should also work with China to establish a de minimis level “consistent with U.S. levels” and consistent with China’s “position as one of the world’s largest participants in global trade," said USCIB. China currently has “virtually no” effective de minimis level, the trade group said. Washington should also work with Chinese Customs and the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, in getting commitments to build and maintain 24/7 operational IT systems available to the trade community, USCIB said. The Chinese trade agencies should also be encouraged to communicate clearly about any outages, relay backup solutions, and make allowances for delays because of system failures.
The American Apparel and Footwear Association said the U.S. government should work with China to prevent “fake goods” from leaving the country, “especially in cases in which the legitimate versions of the product are not manufactured in China.” AAFA added that “education” would help ensure Chinese Customs doesn’t detain legitimate goods, “which members have reported with some frequency.” Further, Chinese import tariffs “tend to differ” depending on port of entry and import agents involved, and “actual tariffs” are often negotiated with local customs agents, AAFA said. Members have also reported that China has a pattern of enforcing various compliance regulations on imports “more strenuously” than on domestic goods, even though all goods sold within China are subject to the same regulations, the trade group said.
Several groups complained about global excess metal capacity largely spurred by China, including the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the National Association of Manufacturers and the Aluminum Association. AISI noted yearly Chinese crude steel production increased by 680 million metric tons between 2000 and 2016, which is more than eight times the total crude steel production by the U.S. in 2016.