Canada updated the Customs Tariff with a list of subheadings covered by the final safeguards for steel goods, according to an order to amend the import control list published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The country announced plans to impose final safeguards on steel plate and stainless rod in April (see 1904040051).
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will begin to add the first commodity group of a phased-in approach for implementing organic import requirements in the Automated Import Reference System on June 10, the CFIA said in a May 28 email. The agency previously said it would begin the phase-in on May 29 (see 1905070054).
The Canada Border Services Agency updated Memorandum D19-13-2 to include multiple revised definitions and other information. The CBSA said the following changes were made:
The Mexican Secretariat of Economy recently issued a ruling on the application to parts and components of upcoming requirements to submit a certificate of compliance with certain Mexican product standards at the time of entry, according to a May 27 circular from the Confederation of Mexican Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM) that was posted by the consultancy AJR Comercio Exterior.
The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department issued a circular May 28 listing the latest version of signatures of officers at the agency that are authorized to sign and issue Delivery Verification Certificates and import and export licenses covering strategic commodities.
The Treasury Department submitted to Congress its semiannual Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the U.S., finding that “no major U.S. trading partner met the relevant … criteria” for unfair trading practices. Treasury did find, however, that nine “major trading partners” warrant “close attention to their currency practices:” China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, according to a May 28 press release. Of the nine, all but China “met two of the three criteria for enhanced analysis under” the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, Treasury said. In its report, Treasury said China “has met one of the three criteria in every” report since 2016 and “constitutes a disproportionate share of the overall U.S. trade deficit.”
China plans to begin the exclusion application process on June 3, according to a scrolling notice on the China Ministry of Finance website. "The first batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from June 3, 2019," the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. "The deadline is July 5, 2019. The second batch of products that can be applied for exclusion will be accepted from September 2, 2019. The deadline is October 18, 2019." China announced it would initiate an exclusion process when it increased tariffs on U.S. goods in response to increased U.S. tariffs on goods from China (see 1905130043). That process is seen by some as indicative of a long trade war ahead (see 1905140034).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control submitted to Congress its annual report on assets held in the U.S. by terrorism-supporting countries and agencies. The report, released May 29, describes U.S. sanctions regimes and details the number of designated individuals, entities and countries designated by each regime as of Dec. 31, 2018. It also includes a list of blocked funds in the U.S. associated with the Specially Designated Global Terrorists, Specially Designated Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organization programs, as well as a similar list of blocked funds associated with three state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, Syria and North Korea.
China is finding ways other than tariff increases to retaliate against U.S. exporters, further damaging the U.S.’s struggling agricultural export sector, panelists said during a Washington International Trade Association discussion on U.S.-China trade. The expected retaliation from China -- along with stalled trade negotiations and the increased difficulty of accessing China’s markets -- could lead to crippling, long-term consequences for some U.S. exporters, the panelists said.
The International Chamber of Commerce World Chambers Federation updated its certificate of origin guidelines, the ICC WCF said in a May 27 news release. "The latest edition of the CO Guidelines elaborates on the differences between both preferential and non-preferential certificates of origin," it said. "It focus on non-preferential rules of origin which are required for payment mechanisms, such as letters of credit for traded goods, and measures related to trade policies, like applications for Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status. Meanwhile, preferential rules of origin determine whether goods or services are eligible for preferential treatment under Free Trade Agreements (FTA)." The group also encouraged the use of electronic certificates.