At a press event during President Donald Trump's visit to India, both he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were vague on how trade tensions might be eased between the two countries. A senior administration official said before the trip that India's announcement of higher tariffs precluded a mini-deal that would have restored India to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program (see 2002210041). Trump said he'd been talking with Modi about how to forge an economic relationship “that is fair and reciprocal. Our teams have made tremendous progress on a comprehensive trade agreement and I’m optimistic we can reach a deal that will be of great importance to both countries.” He said U.S. exports to India are up nearly 60 percent since he took office.
Exports to China
China is not requiring consignors and consignees to be present during customs inspections of imports and exports in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus, according to a Feb. 24 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The measure is also aimed at increasing the speed of inspections and releases of goods, the report said.
In the Feb. 19-24 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
China lifted import restrictions on certain pet foods containing “ruminant ingredients,” according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 19 notice from China’s General Administration of Customs. The agency said it will release inspection and quarantine requirements for pet food imports in a separate notice.
China’s General Administration of Customs will allow imports of U.S. fresh potatoes that meet certain inspection and quarantine requirements, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 21 notice. The notice includes an attachment with the specific requirements that all U.S. potato imports must meet.
China recently introduced plans to streamline imports of auto parts by allowing companies in eight cities to take “direct delivery” of the imports and arrange on-site inspections by customs officers at a later date, according to a Feb. 21 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The on-site inspections may also include “random checks,” the report said. The measure was introduced for Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Ningbo, and covers imports of certain seat belts, sunroofs, brakes and parts of tractors, brakes and parts of “large passenger vehicles” and “other parts and accessories of bodies (including cabs),” the report said.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Feb. 21 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
While auto parts, LCD panels and pharmaceuticals are most concentrated in the Chinese province where the coronavirus epidemic began, a recent Congressional Research Service report noted that quarantines are affecting port staffing, which can affect all shipments from China. “Business reopening has been uneven across sectors and locations in China. Many firms are awaiting government approvals to reopen and are facing difficulties in meeting new operating requirements, such as providing masks for employees,” the report said. Because passenger air traffic has been curtailed to and from China, there is much less space for air cargo shipments.
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) implementation is in its early days, with new rules taking effect on Feb. 13 (see 2002110042), but it's generally assumed the number of transactions coming under Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) jurisdiction will quadruple, said David Plotinsky, DOJ National Security Division principal deputy chief, at a Federal Communications Bar Association event Feb. 19. He said the number of telecom deals subject to CFIUS also likely will quadruple, though there's less concern about deals on “the pipes” of telecom than on data. CFIUS experts said prospective deals now have to take CFIUS issues and possible mitigation steps into consideration early in the planning.
The Canadian Parliament is moving the successor to NAFTA along, so that a March ratification vote is still looking likely, news from Canada says. While the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will be reviewed by the agriculture, natural resources and industry/science/technology committees, not just the trade committee, the other committees only have until Feb. 25 for that review, a report from ipolitics said.