According to the customs statistics,in the first seven months of this year, China’s total export and import value amounted 17.16 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%, and the pace of decline narrowed by 1.5 percentage point from the first half of the year.Among them, the export reached 9.4 trillion yuan, down by 0.9% year-on-year; the import reached 7.76 trillion yuan, down by 2.6% year-on-year. The surplus was 1.64 trillion yuan, with an increase of 8.1% year-on-year. In July, China’s export and import value amounted 2.93 trillion yuan, up by 6.5% year-on-year. Among them, the export reached 1.69 trillion yuan, up by 10.4% year-on-year; the import reached 1.24 trillion yuan, up by 1.6% year-on-year; the surplus was 442.23 billion yuan, with an increase of 45.9% year-on-year.
1. Announcement of the General Administration of Customs, No. 78, 2020 (Announcement on Adjusting the Declaration Deadline for Domestic Sales in Processing Trade)
For the purposes of implementing in depth the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to advance work on coordinating the prevention and control of COVID-19 and the economic and social development, keeping employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign and domestic investments, and expectations stable, ensuring security in job, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains and the normal functioning of primary-level governments, and supporting processing trade enterprises in expanding the domestic market, in accordance with the deployments and requirements of the State Council, the declaration deadline for domestic sales in processing trade shall be further extended.
Please refer to the following link for the detailed requirements.
http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/3183192/index.html
2. Announcement of the General Administration of Customs, No. 79, 2020 (Announcement on Promulgating Supervision Measures for the Duty-free Shopping for Travelers Leaving the Hainan Island)
For the purposes of regulating the supervision for the duty-free shopping for travelers leaving the Hainan Island and promoting the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, in accordance with the State Council’s decision to adjust the duty-free shopping policies for travelers leaving the Hainan Island, the revised Supervision Measures for the Duty-free Shopping for Travelers Leaving the Hainan Island are hereby promulgated and shall take effect as of July 10, 2020. Announcement No. 7 of 2015, Announcement No. 7 of 2016, Announcement No. 6 of 2017 and Announcement No. 221 of 2018 of the General Administration of Customs shall be abolished simultaneously.
Please refer to the following link for the detailed information.
http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/302266/302267/3183210/index.html
3. Announcement of the General Administration of Customs, No. 84, 2020 (Announcement on Promulgating the Instructions for Customs Clearance at the Third China International Import Expo of 2020 and the Facilitation Measures of the Customs for the Third China International Import Expo of 2020)
For the purpose of ensuring the continued success of China International Import Expo, the General Administration of Customs formulated the Customs Clearance Notice for the Third China International Import Expo of 2020 and the Facilitation Measures of the Customs for the Third China International Import Expo of 2020 (see Annexes) on the basis of summarizing and upgrading the facilitation measures for customs clearance of the previous two expos. The aforementioned documents are hereby promulgated.
http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/2480148/3188808/index.html
4. Announcement on Popularizing the Application of the Solution of the Standard Version of International Trade “Single Window” to Provide Exemption from Attending Personally for Inspection
For the purposes of ensuring the fast inspection and fast release of imported and exported goods during the prevention and control of COVID-19, reducing mass gatherings and preventing the transmission of COVID-19 coronavirus effectively, the General Administration of Customs promulgated the Announcement on Popularizing the Application of the Solution of the Standard Version of International Trade “Single Window” to Provide Exemption from Attending Personally for Inspection (Announcement of the General Administration of Customs, No. 24, 2020). According to the announcement of the General Administration of Customs, the standard version of single window released the new solution to provide exemption from attending personally for inspection. In accordance with the requirement of the Supervision Department of the Customs, the application of this solution shall be popularized as of July 6. Please refer to the annex in the following link for the operation manual.
http://www.singlewindow.cn/tzgg/5041.jhtml
5. The United States Imposes 25 Percent Extra in Tariffs on Some Products in the Lists of Products to Be Excluded
On July 27 local time, the Office of the United States Trade Representative published the seventh round of products excluded from the additional tariffs that would receive extensions (under the $16 billion action). The exclusion of this round of products was supposed to expire on July 31, 2020. The notice decided to extend the exclusion through December 31, 2020.
The first set of exclusion of the $16 billion worth products included 69 products. Only 14 of them received extensions this time, while 55 of them did not receive extensions. This means 25 additional percent tariffs shall be imposed on these 55 products that were excluded from the additional tariffs as of July 31, 2020 EDT.
Please refer to the official announcement of the United States in the below link.
https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/301Investigations/%2416_Billion_Exclusion_Extensions_July_2020.pdf
6. The State Council Promulgating 20 Implementation Opinions on Optimizing the Business Environment.
On July 15, the General Office of the State Council released the Implementation Opinions on Further Optimizing the Business Environment and Better Serving Market Entities. Among them, the following opinions are related to exports.
(7) The efficiency of customs clearance shall be further improved. Declaration of imported and exported goods in advance shall be implemented. Enterprises shall go through the declaration procedure in advance and the customs shall go through the inspection and release procedure of goods as soon as the goods reaches workplaces under the customs’ supervision. The “Two-Step Declaration” customs clearance mode for imports shall be optimized. Enterprises may take their goods away after they have finished their preliminary declaration and the Customs has finished risk inspection and disposition. The pilot run of shipside delivery for imported goods and direct shipment upon arrival at port for exported goods shall be carried out in supervised workplaces that meet the requirements. Supervision and tracking shall be implemented through the whole inspection process. Enterprises shall be allowed to choose whether to be present at the inspection where conditions permit to reduce enterprises’ burden. Ports shall be strictly forbidden to take irrational measures such as imposing single-day crowd size limit and customs declaration control to reduce customs clearance time. (Headed by the General Administration of Customs. Relevant departments of the State Council and all regions shall be responsible according to their respective duties.)
(8) International trade “single window” solution shall be widened. The “single window” solution shall be widened faster in a comprehensive manner from the current law enforcement for customs clearance at ports to other international trade links such as logistics and trade services at ports. Port charges, shipping agent fees, tally fees and other charges or fees shall be published online and able to be queried online. Except under certain conditions, such as when confidentiality is involved, in principle, regulatory credentials involved in import and export procedures shall all be accepted through “single window” and then be handled and supervised by relevant departments at back end. Online payment and online printing of credentials for enterprises shall be implemented. (Headed by the General Administration of Customs. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Medical Products Administration and other relevant departments of the State Council and all regions shall be responsible according to their respective duties.)
(9) More operational and investment barriers to foreign-invested and foreign trade enterprises shall be removed. Domestic sales of export-oriented products of foreign trade enterprises shall be supported. Self-declaration of foreign trade enterprises and other ways shall be encouraged to replace relevant domestic certifications. For products that have obtained relevant international certifications whose standards are not lower than domestic certifications’ standards, they shall be allowed to be released to the market after foreign trade enterprises make a written commitment that complies with the national standards, and the interim and post-event supervision shall be strengthened. Prefecture-level and above cities shall be authorized to carry out foreign-invested enterprises’ registration. (The Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other relevant departments of the State Council and all regions shall be responsible according to their respective duties.)
(15) Tax services shall be improved continuously. By the end of 2020, value-added tax invoices shall be online, and major tax services shall also be offered online. Declaration procedures for preferential tax policies of value-added tax invoices and others shall be simplified. In principle, approval steps shall be removed. Data sharing among departments such as tax departments, the Customs, and People's Bank shall be strengthened. Export tax refund process shall be expedited. Paperless document recordation shall be promoted. (Headed by the State Administration of Taxation. People's Bank, the General Administration of Customs and other relevant departments of the State Council shall be responsible according to their respective duties.)
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2020-07/21/content_5528615.htm
7. The State Council pledges another four measures to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investments.
(1)Foreign trade enterprises shall be supported in enhancing their ability to survive risks.
(2)The central, western and northeastern regions shall be encouraged to make best use of their advantages and take over labor-intensive foreign trade industries. The development of new forms of business such as cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses and foreign trade comprehensive service enterprises shall be supported and the market procurement trade mode pilot shall be expanded to boost the export of micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
(3)The policy environment shall be improved to attract foreign investments.
(4)The pilot of the innovative development of trade in services shall be deepened.
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2020-07/30/content_5531108.htm
8. Notice of the State Council on Releasing Several Policies to Promote the Quality Development of the Integrated Circuit Industry and the Software Industry in the New Er Several Policies to Promote the Quality Development of the Integrated Circuit Industry and the Software Industry in the New Era
The integrated circuit and the software industries are the core of the information industry and the key power to lead a new round of sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation. Since the release of the Notice of the State Council on Releasing Several Policies to Encourage the Development of the Software Industry and the Integrated Circuit Industry (State Council No. 18 [2000]) and the Notice of the State Council on Releasing Several Policies to Further Encourage the Development of the Software Industry and the Integrated Circuit Industry (State Council No. 4 [2011]), the integrated circuit industry and the software industry in our country have been rapidly developing, effectively supporting the national informatization construction and advancing the continuous and healthy development of the economy and the society. For the purposes of further optimizing the development environment of the integrated circuit industry and the software industry, deepening the international cooperation in the industries and enhancing their innovation capabilities and development quality, the following policies have been made.
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2020-08/04/content_5532370.htm
9. The Ministry of Commerce decided to extend anti-dumping measures on imports of single-mode optical fibers from India.
The Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 29 of 2020 on August 13, 2020. According to the announcement, the Ministry of Commerce decided to continue to impose anti-dumping duties on imported single-mode optical fibers originating in India from August 14 on the basis of the final review of the investigation results and the implementation period is 5 years.
http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/news/202008/20200802991729.shtml
10. The Ministry of Commerce initiated an anti-dumping investigation on imported Polyphenylene ether originating in the United States.
The Ministry of Commerce issued Announcement No. 31 of 2020 on August 3. According to the announcement, the Ministry of Commerce decided to initiate an anti-dumping investigation on imported Polyphenylene ether originating in the United States. The product is called Polyphenylene ether, also known as Polyphenylene Oxide, abbreviated PPE or PPO. The tariff line of the product is 39072090 under the Customs Import and Export Tariff of the People's Republic of China. The investigation will be usually completed before August 3, 2021, but under certain conditions, the investigation period could be extended to February 3, 2022.
http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/ae/ai/202008/20200802988913.shtml
That is all for this issue's compilation of major policy updates on import and export trade. Please feel free to contact us if you need more information or have any feedback for us.
