China will decrease tariffs on 706 items on Jan. 1, 2019, including on raw materials for production, such as raw aluminum. It is also cutting tariffs sharply on many more advanced items. For instance, the tariff on laser welding machines will drop from 10 percent to 5 percent; camera tariffs will fall from 9 percent to 4 percent; movie camera and projector tariffs will fall from 8 percent to 3 percent; tariffs on printing machines and copiers will be reduced from 10 percent to 3 percent; tariffs on heavy trucks with cranes will drop from 15 percent to 8 percent; and tariffs on cement trucks and wreckers will slide from 15 percent to 10 percent.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 24 (some may also be given separate headlines):
China’s foreign ministry said the U.S. must withdraw allegations against two state-linked Chinese hackers charged Dec. 20 with intellectual-property cybercrimes or risk endangering U.S.-China trade negotiations aimed at averting a March 2 increase in Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. China urges the U.S. “to immediately correct its wrongdoings, stop defaming and discrediting China on the cybersecurity issue, and withdraw its so-called charges against the Chinese nationals so as to avoid seriously damaging bilateral relations and bilateral cooperation in relevant fields,” said a spokesperson Dec. 21. In charging the two Chinese nationals with cybertheft, the U.S. “fabricated stories out of nothing and made unwarranted accusations against China on the cybersecurity issue,” she said. China “has been firmly opposing and cracking down on all forms of cyber espionage. The Chinese government has never participated in or supported others in stealing commercial secrets in any form.”
The European Union expanded its complaint against China at the World Trade Organization this week, adding to an earlier request for consultations in June (see 1806010043). "With this move, the EU significantly broadens and deepens the scope of its WTO action against Chinese measures on forced technology transfers," the commission said in a press release Dec. 20. It is challenging Chinese laws on foreign investments in electric vehicles and seed technology, as well as joint venture regulations. The EU says China promised not to condition investment approvals on tech transfer or doing research in China when China acceded to the WTO. In June, the EU targeted another aspect of joint venture law and provisions of technology import and export regulation.
The European Union recently issued the following trade-related release (notices of most significance will be given separate headlines):
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 19 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The World Trade Organization agreed to form a panel on whether Russian retaliation for U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs is illegal, at the Dec. 18 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. A Russian official said its delegation was bewildered to hear the U.S. say that Russia is undermining WTO rules "when it is the U.S. arbitrarily imposing additional duties on steel and aluminium and using them as a squeezer in order to allow the US, with different degrees of success, to get trade concessions from certain members," a summary of the meeting said. According to a Geneva trade official, there now have been five panels formed on retaliatory tariffs responding to the Section 232 tariffs. At the same meeting, the U.S. blocked a first request by China to form a panel to judge whether U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301 are legal. Its delegation said that the two parties are in negotiations, and that's the right place to settle the conflict, not the WTO. The panel will automatically be authorized at next month's Dispute Settlement Body meeting. China said U.S. tariffs are damaging the global economy and damaging global industrial supply chains.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 17 (some may also be given separate headlines):