The United States suddenly announced the restoration of tariff exemptions for 352 Chinese products
On March 23, local time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on its official website that it would restore tariff exemptions for some Chinese imports, involving 352 of the 549 pending products. The regulation will apply to goods imported from China between October 12, 2021 and December 31, 2022.
According to the announcement, the exempted categories include certain types of bicycle parts, motors, machinery, chemicals, seafood and luggage bags, etc.
EU
Passed the world’s first “carbon tariff”
The latest news, on March 15, local time, French President Emmanuel Macron said on his personal social media that EU member states have reached an agreement on the EU carbon border tax. The proposal, which will be implemented from January 1, 2023, covers industries such as cement, fertilizer, aluminum and steel. The transition period from 2023 to 2025 is the implementation of the transition period. From 2026, the carbon tariff will be officially introduced in full. From 2026, importers need to pay the corresponding amount of CBAM certificates according to the implied carbon emissions of their imported products.
For our companies exporting to Europe, if the products involve five industries of cement, electricity, fertilizer, steel and aluminum, especially the steel industry, we must pay attention to the changes. Last year, my country’s adjustment of export tariffs on steel products has significantly reduced the export of low-end and medium-end steel products.
Egypt
Its central bank allows commercial banks to set their own foreign exchange rates
Affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, foreign capital has continued to flow out of Egypt recently. To this end, Egypt has introduced a series of measures, including raising interest rates for the first time in years and allowing the Egyptian pound to depreciate against the dollar. The Central Bank of Egypt allows commercial banks to set their own foreign exchange rates, allowing the Egyptian pound to depreciate against the dollar.
The statement said that the central bank attaches great importance to exchange rate flexibility and its role as a shock absorber, hoping to keep Egypt’s economy competitive. On March 21, the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound against the US dollar fell sharply, from 15.7 to 1 the previous day to 18.2 to 1 at the close of the day, a drop of more than 16%, setting a record for more than 5 years of decline.
Foreign trade people must pay attention to the collection risk of exporting to Egypt!
Russia
PayPal suspends operations in Russia
On March 12, local time, the global third-party payment platform PayPal announced on its official website in Russia that due to the recent development of the situation, it has decided to suspend related services in Russia. PayPal said it required Russian users to transfer their balances in their personal digital wallets by March 18 in order to avoid losses from service interruptions.
In fact, as early as July 31, 2020, PayPal has stopped the transfer service in Russia, and users can only make international payments. On March 5 this year, PayPal CEO Shulman issued a statement confirming that the company would close its business in Russia. Subsequently, Visa and Mastercard also announced the suspension of operations in Russia. In addition, credit and debit cards issued by Russian banks will also not be able to be used abroad, and Russian businesses and ATMs will not be able to accept cards issued abroad.
It is worth mentioning that PayPal’s market share in Russia’s domestic payment market is not high, and its impact on our foreign trade business will not be too great.
America
The epidemic has turned the US e-commerce market into a “money printing machine”
Adobe released e-commerce data during the U.S. epidemic. From March 2020 to February 2022, U.S. consumers spent $1.7 trillion on online shopping. That figure includes the $32 billion in excess that U.S. consumers paid for the same goods, given recent inflation.
Statistics two years after the COVID-19 outbreak were nearly $610 billion more than total e-commerce sales from March 2018 to February 2020. Adobe also said it expects spending on online shopping in the U.S. to top $1 trillion for the first time in 2022.
Grocery, electronics and apparel will account for 41.8% of total U.S. e-commerce spending in 2021, with groceries accounting for 8.9% of $79.2 billion, up from $73.7 billion in 2020 and more than double the online grocery spending in 2019. Adobe expects the figure to exceed $85 billion this year. U.S. consumers spend an average of $6.7 billion a month on groceries, up from $3.1 billion before the pandemic began, data show.
In addition, in 2021, U.S. consumer spending on online shopping for electronics will reach $165 billion, accounting for 18.6% of total spending, an increase of 8% from 2020 ($152.7 billion). It is expected to reach $174 billion this year.
Online apparel sales in the U.S. will increase from $115.8 billion in 2020 to $126.2 billion in 2021, an increase of 8% year over year. Adobe expects the industry to top $130 billion this year.
sea freight
Some Maersk ships will stop calling at Shenzhen port
A few days ago, Maersk issued an announcement saying that in consideration of the resurgence of the new crown epidemic, it will adjust some businesses in China, especially in Shenzhen.
Terminals at GCA’s main ports remain operational as usual, including ship operations, yard handling and inbound and outbound operations, the announcement said. We expect vessel waiting times to increase at Yantian and Chiwan ports. For Chiwan/Mawan/Shekou Container Terminals, starting from March 21st, CY-open will only be open to ships within 4 days of ETB, and can only be used after the terminal confirms the arrival of the cargo containers pre-booked by the truck company. In order to ensure the reliability of the shipping schedule, some Maersk ships will cancel calls at Shekou and Yantian.
Maersk expects trucking services between Shenzhen and nearby cities to be severely affected by 20%, so delivery times will be longer and transportation costs may rise.
policy
The Ministry of Finance issued and implemented preferential income tax policies for small and micro enterprises
The Ministry of Finance recently issued an announcement on the further implementation of preferential income tax policies for small and micro enterprises, proposing that the part of the annual taxable income of small and low-profit enterprises exceeding 1 million yuan but not exceeding 3 million yuan should be included in the taxable income at a reduced rate of 25%. Pay corporate income tax at a rate of 20%.
Jiangsu’s 14 new policies are implemented to escort and stabilize foreign trade
In order to promote the stable development of foreign trade, the General Office of the Jiangsu Provincial Government recently issued the “Several Measures on Doing a Good Job in Cross-Cycle Adjustment and Further Stabilizing Foreign Trade”, and put forward 14 new measures such as actively expanding imports and accelerating the cultivation of new forms of foreign trade, and increased assistance to enterprises. efforts to help companies solve the practical difficulties they are currently facing.
In terms of stabilizing the main body and guaranteeing orders, the “Measures” propose that Jiangsu should implement the “Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement” with high quality, innovate the way of participating in exhibitions, and help foreign trade enterprises to explore the international market online and offline. By expanding the underwriting scale of export credit insurance, increasing export credit support, and taking multiple measures to ensure the stable operation of foreign trade enterprises. The new policy makes it clear that in 2022, China Credit Insurance Jiangsu Branch will support Jiangsu’s foreign trade exports and investment scale to reach 95 billion US dollars, and the claim settlement time will be increased by 10% compared with the same period of the previous year. The terminal interest rate of foreign trade small and micro enterprises on-lending shall not be higher than the average interest rate of small and micro enterprise loans in the province.
In terms of alleviating the pressure on foreign trade supply chains such as international logistics, the “Measures” propose to support ports and shipping companies to open new or encrypted routes, highlight the construction of near-ocean routes with countries that have joined the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement, and encourage foreign trade enterprises to cooperate with shipping, International train companies sign long-term transportation contracts to stabilize the guarantee of enterprise transportation capacity. It is clear that at least one new stable operation line will be added to the China-Europe freight train in 2022, and the total number of trains will reach 1,900 in 2022, and efforts will be made to unblock the import and export channels of enterprises.
Zhejiang Province promotes the construction of compliance system for foreign trade and economic enterprises
Zhejiang Province recently issued the “Zhejiang Province Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Construction of a Compliance System for Foreign Economic and Trade Enterprises (2022-2024)”. The action plan proposes that by 2023, Zhejiang’s foreign economic and trade enterprises’ compliance system construction capacity will be fully improved, and compliance work will be at the forefront of the country. The China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone took the lead in forming a compliance mechanism and cultivation path covering foreign economic and trade enterprises, further enhancing the level of risk prevention and control. There are 100 pioneering enterprises with a sound foreign economic and trade compliance organization system, a sound management system, a complete system of systems, and standardized work procedures. Take the lead in establishing a compliance talent training mechanism that meets the needs of foreign economic and trade development, and cultivate and form new competitive advantages for foreign economic and trade enterprises.
The compliance of foreign economic and trade enterprises means that the cross-border operation and management of enterprises in Zhejiang Province complies with the requirements of laws and regulations, international treaties, business practices, regulatory provisions, industry standards, and ethical standards in the field of foreign trade and economic cooperation.