The Council of the European Union agreed Nov. 13 to eliminate its de minimis provision, through which goods worth under $174 could enter the EU without customs duties being paid. The council said the new rule will start applying once the EU customs data hub is running, which is expected to be in 2028, since the hub is "currently under negotiation between the Council and the European Parliament as part of a broader fundamental reform of the EU customs framework." The customs data hub will allow for calculation and notification of customs debt on a "per-item basis." To facilitate a speedier implementation of the end of the de minimis provision, however, the council said it committed to work toward a "simple, temporary solution" to impose duties on goods under the de minimis threshold by 2026. No further specifics were provided.
China has added the U.S., Canada and Mexico to its list of countries requiring export licenses for certain precursor chemicals, its Ministry of Commerce announced Nov. 10, according to an unofficial translation.
The recent export controls suspended by the Chinese government created a new framework for export controls that could quickly be reinstated should tensions between the U.S. and China flare up again, according to compliance experts.
China has suspended port fees for U.S. ships and sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Marine Corporation in response to the Trump administration's decision last week to drop ship fees for Chinese vessels and slash tariffs on Chinese goods (see 2511030005).
China suspended export controls for a year on certain key critical minerals and other dual-use items that were banned from being shipped to the U.S. for military uses, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a Nov. 9 press release. The ban on exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and “superhard materials” was originally instated in December 2024 (see 2412030022). The move comes amid a thaw in the trade conflict between the U.S. and China after talks between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping at the end of last month (see 2510300003).
The Chinese government announced that it's delaying its export licensing system that it announced in October, which affected rare earth processing equipment, extraterritorial use of its rare earths, and battery manufacturing equipment.
The U.S. should drop tariffs on EU steel from 50% to 15% and suspend Section 232 investigations targeting EU products as part of the two sides' trade framework announced in August (see 2508200052), said Bernd Lange, the chair of the EU Parliament’s Committee on International Trade. He also said the EU should work in a sunset provision that would end the agreement if the two sides haven’t made progress in 18 months.
The World Customs Organization recently announced that it will consider a new explanatory note on the meaning of “price actually paid or payable” for the purposes of customs valuation using transaction value. The proposed explanatory note includes information on forms of payment, direct and indirect payments, adjustments, considerations based on decisions of the WTO Committee on Customs Valuation, and deductions, “such as payments not related to the goods and post-importation charges.” The note “will be submitted for approval to the WCO Council at its June 2026 Sessions,” the WCO said.
The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates have applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to counter U.S. trade tariffs, Nikkei Asia reported Nov. 3, citing Japanese government sources. Last December, the 12-nation free trade agreement invited Costa Rica to begin the process of becoming a member (see 2412030053).
The EU is abandoning a plan announced last month that would have postponed its new deforestation reporting requirements for one year, instead granting a six-month grace period for certain companies.