Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't think the Trump administration will ever levy an additional 25% tax on imported autos, even as President Donald Trump continues to mention that threat in an effort to get European negotiators to open up to American agriculture exports. Grassley, who was responding to a reporter's question on how to get the European Union to bend during a conference call Feb. 18, said he doesn't think the EU will negotiate much on ag.
In the Jan. 31 - Feb. 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Indonesia has given its customs officials the authority to stop counterfeit goods at the border, and just in 2020, has already seized $1 billion rupiah, or $73,000, worth of counterfeits that were set for export, according to Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto, charge d'affaires for the Indonesian Embassy. He was testifying Jan. 31 at a hearing on Indonesia's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, and was describing numerous actions the country has taken to improve protections for intellectual property rights holders.
Eliminating Thailand's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences program, because of a complaint from pork producers, would hurt U.S. importers more than Thai businesses, one witness said, and would be unlikely to convince the country to allow pigs fed with ractopamine to be imported. China and the European Union also ban meat that was fed the growth-enhancing drug. Dan Anthony, testifying on behalf of the GSP Action Committee, told the panel of government officials that they should put great weight on the potential harm to U.S. importers as they make their decision. He gave the example of a 25-person company that imports from Thailand, and had to pay $60,000 to $70,000 a month in tariffs during the two years GSP was not in force. Once it was renewed, the North Carolina company hired 17 full-time employees, and today, employs 70 people.
Congress is examining U.S.-Turkey trade ties -- and the changes to trade policy with Turkey -- more closely, and a recent Congressional Research Service report gives policymakers context for decisions they might make. When Turkey invaded Syria after the U.S. withdrew support for Kurdish forces, there was talk of levying sanctions (see 1910100049, 1910170054 and 1910180060), but since the crisis abated, there was no more discussion of sanctions.
The European Commission recently added Mongolia to its list of countries under the European Union’s registered exporter system, according to a Jan. 3 KPMG post. The change allows Mongolia to participate in the EU’s system of certification of origin of goods that applies in the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, according to the commission.
President Donald Trump, in a press conference with the president of Turkey on Nov. 13, said trade with Turkey “could be many times larger" than it is now, and that his administration has the goal of roughly quadrupling the volume of trade between the two countries, which would be $100 billion in two-way trade. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. goods exported to Turkey were valued at $10.2 billion, while goods imported totaled $10.3 billion.
The European Commission on Nov. 12 sent its preliminary findings to Cambodia in an investigation on whether the country should keep its “Everything But Arms” trade preferences that was triggered by human rights concerns, the European Commission said in press release. Cambodia now has one month to react to the report, after which the EU will make a final decision in February 2020 on whether to temporarily end Cambodia’s tariff preferences.
India blocked a first request from the U.S. for the World Trade Organization to form a panel to judge whether the hike in tariffs that India instituted because of the U.S. tariffs on Indian steel and aluminum breaks the rules. The panel is automatically convened after a second request. India delayed retaliating for the Section 232 tariffs for many months, but put them in place after the U.S. removed India from the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 23-27 in case they were missed.