Switzerland is “absolutely convinced” it needs a free trade agreement with the U.S., which could benefit U.S. agricultural exporters, a Switzerland ambassador and Switzerland trade expert said during a Dec. 3 Heritage Foundation panel. But a deal may be unlikely, particularly because Switzerland faces the difficult decision of accepting U.S. agricultural safety standards over those of the European Union, a trade expert said. That decision presents a significant barrier to a potential trade deal.
In the Nov. 25 - Dec. 2 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Six European countries will become “shareholders” of Instex in an attempt to “facilitate legitimate trade” between Europe and Iran, according to a Nov. 29 notice from Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden hope Instex -- the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions (see 1907010057) -- convinces Iran to stop breaching the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (see 1908050036). “It is crucial for the Islamic Republic of Iran to return without delay to full compliance with the terms and provisions of the nuclear agreement,” Finland said. Trade lawyers have said Instex is largely symbolic and unlikely to broker significant trade in its current form (see 1907030047), while the State Department said the system has no corporate demand within the EU (see 1908260035).
Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:
Singapore Customs appointed Nanyang Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic to conduct customs guidance courses for the business community, Singapore said in a Nov. 28 notice. The courses, taught by two Singapore higher-learning technology schools, will help “promote compliance” of the agency’s “regulatory requirements for the import, export, transhipment and transit of goods,” the notice said. The courses will begin in January and will allow Singapore Customs “to better cater to the industry’s demand for more frequent courses and to better respond to the industry’s learning needs.” The courses previously conducted by the Singapore Customs Academy will end in January, the agency said. The notice contains instructions on how to register for the courses and a set of frequently asked questions.
An amended free trade agreement between China and Pakistan took effect Dec. 1, rewriting rules on market access, tariff reduction schedules and more in an effort to increase trade, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Dec. 1, according to an unofficial translation. China hopes the new deal deepens “bilateral economic and trade cooperation” through measures aimed at revamping provisions such as trade remedies and customs cooperation. The deal will “gradually increase” the number of goods that face no tariffs from 35 percent to 75 percent, China said, and both nations will “implement a 20% reduction in taxes on other products that account for 5% of their respective tax items.” China said the changes will be implemented “as soon as possible” after “necessary domestic procedures” are finished.
China’s Ministry of Commerce recently published a list of antidumping measures that will expire in 2020, according to a Dec. 2 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Antidumping duties on certain polyamide chips from the U.S., Italy, France and Taiwan will expire Oct. 13; duties on adipic acid from South Korea, the European Union and U.S. will expire Nov. 2; and duties on methyl methacrylate from Singapore, Thailand and Japan will expire Dec. 1. Companies may ask China to review the expiration to potentially continue the antidumping duties by submitting an application at least 60 days before they expire, the report said. Companies who ask for the duties to continue must “believe” the expiration of the duties will lead to “injury to the domestic industry.”
The State Department issued notices of its report to Congress under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, which requires the State and Treasury Departments to assess where Iran is buying sensitive materials for its nuclear program and which sectors of its economy are being controlled by the country’s military.
A U.S. citizen was charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after he delivered a presentation and gave technical advice in North Korea on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 2 press release. The Singapore resident and U.S. citizen, Virgil Griffith, received “warnings” not to go to North Korea, the Justice Department said, adding that his actions constituted an evasion of U.S. sanctions.
The top negotiator for Mexico on the new NAFTA told reporters in Canada on Nov. 29, “I think we are almost there.” Jesus Seade, who was in Canada meeting with his counterparts, had been in Washington the day before Thanksgiving to talk to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer about whether Mexico could live with the edits to the new NAFTA the Democrats had asked for. Seade told reporters that the edits might be finalized “sometime in the next week,” but if not then, he said he hopes it will be before Congress leaves town for the Christmas holiday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a speech on the Senate floor Dec. 2 that “if a deal cannot be reached by the end of this week, I do not see how USMCA can be ratified in 2019. As it is, the window of opportunity for 2019 is extremely tight.”