Though Britain has left the European Union (EU) through Brexit, the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) will cover all the same countries including Bangladesh that are currently eligible for trade preferences under the EU’s GSP. “Imports from 47 of the world’s least developed countries, including Bangladesh and Malawi, will not face any tariffs– supporting their economic development through business and trade,” according to Department for International Trade, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Britain will allow businesses to trade with the UK as they do now without disruption, it said in a statement. The UK government announces that removals and reductions of tariffs on goods from developing countries to continue after the end of the transition period. The trade preference scheme will cover any eligible countries that do not have their existing trade agreements transitioned into a new agreement with the UK, it said. The UK imported approximately £8 billion-worth of textiles and apparel products from eligible countries last year. Besides, British importers will continue to pay zero or reduced tariffs on everyday goods such as clothing and vegetables from the world’s poorest countries now the UK has left the EU, the statement said quoting International Trade Secretary Liz Truss. “We are making sure that the world’s poorest countries can continue to take advantage of the opportunities that free trade offers them by allowing them to export their products to the UK at preferential rates,” she said. The scheme will also help British businesses to continue trading seamlessly after we leave the EU, as well as giving British consumers continued access to some of their favourite products at affordable prices. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Global Britain is a partner of choice for developing countries. “(This) announcement demonstrates, we take a liberal approach to trade, recognising that many developing countries want to trade their way to greater prosperity,” he said. Source: BSS AH

US lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to limit the president’s power to levy import tariffs for national security reasons. The bills face an uncertain future but underscore bipartisan concerns on Capitol Hill over the rising costs of the Trump administration’s trade policies. The United States in 2018 slapped duties on aluminum and steel from other countries, drawing criticism from lawmakers who support free trade and complaints of rising supply chain costs across business sectors. Two bipartisan groups of lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation known as the Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bills would require Trump to have congressional approval before taking trade actions like tariffs and quotas under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The law currently allows the president to impose such tariffs without approval from Capitol Hill. “The imposition of these taxes, under the false pretense of national security (Section 232), is weakening our economy, threatening American jobs, and eroding our credibility with other nations,” said Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, co-sponsor of the Senate bill. Toomey led a similar push last year that did not go to vote. It is unclear that Congress would consider taking up such legislation now. Still, the bills underscore mounting pressure from lawmakers to address concerns over tariffs, especially those on Canada and Mexico as lawmakers ready to vote on a new North American trade deal agreed late last year. Republican Chuck Grassley from Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, earlier pressed the Trump administration to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico before Congress begins considering legislation to implement the new pact. Numerous business and agricultural groups have come out in support of the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, but have said its benefits will be limited so long as the U.S. tariffs and retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico remain in place. Companies are able to request to exemptions from the steel and aluminum tariffs, but the process has been plagued by delays and uncertainty. “Virginia consumers and industries like craft beer and agriculture are hurting because of the President’s steel and aluminum tariffs,” said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, co-sponsor of the Senate legislation. “This bill would roll them back.” Republicans Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Darin LaHood of Illinois and Democrats Ron Kind of Wisconsin and Jimmy Panetta of California introduced the House legislation. MHK

The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China has led both countries to announce billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs on each other’s products. China is the largest single exporter to the U.S. – more than 500 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods entered the U.S. last year – and American tariffs on Chinese products were on the high side even before the latest round of tit-for-tat increases. But they are by no means the highest import duties the U.S. charges. Those would be on imports from several developing South Asian nations whose exports to the U.S. are heavily weighted toward clothing and other products that the U.S. generally taxes highly. Bangladesh, for example, exported about 5.7 billion dollars worth of goods to the U.S. last year, 95 percent of which were apparel, footwear, headgear and related items, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Nearly all Bangladeshi imports were subject to U.S. duty, and the tariffs on them were equivalent to 15.2 percent of the total value of that country’s shipments to the U.S. – the highest such average rate among the 232 countries, territories and other jurisdictions in the ITC database. Other countries with similar profiles are Cambodia (duties equal to 14.1 percent of the total value of imports from there), Sri Lanka (11.9 percent), Pakistan (8.9 percent) and Vietnam (7.2 percent). By contrast, the duties on Chinese imports totaled 13.5 billion dollars last year, or 2.7 percent of their total value. For all imports worldwide, the U.S. imposed tariffs equal to about 1.4 percent of total value. The average tariff rates the U.S. imposes on its other major trading partners are much lower than those on China. Mexico and Canada, the second- and third-highest sources of U.S. imports, had average duties last year of just 0.12 percent and 0.08 percent of the value of their imports, respectively. (The three countries are linked in the North American Free Trade Agreement.) The average rates for Japan and Germany were both less than 2 percent; South Korea, with which the U.S. also has a free trade agreement, had duties equal to just 0.25 percent on its 70.5 billion dollars in total exports to the U.S. Average tariff rates on U.S. imports from a given country, as defined above, depend on two things: the share of total imports that are subject to duty, and the average rate the U.S. places on that share. In general, U.S. tariffs are lower today(relative to the total value of imports) than they were two decades ago, mainly because more imported goods are fully exempted from duties. In 1996, for example, three-quarters (75.5 percent) of Chinese imports were subject to duty, at an average rate of 7.2 percent. Last year, only about two-fifths (41.3 percent) of imports from China were dutiable, with the rest entering the country duty-free; the average rate on the dutiable portion of Chinese imports was 6.5 percent. (Looking at the average rate on only the dutiable portion of imports – rather than on all imports – moves Bahrain, Haiti, Barbados and several other small nations to the top of the list, mainly because of relatively high rates on a relatively small portion of their total imports.) Source: Pew Research Center. AH

China has slapped extra tariffs of up to 25 percent on 128 US products including frozen pork, as well as on wine and certain fruits and nuts, in response to US duties on imports of aluminium and steel, China’s finance ministry said. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 US goods, including fruit. The tariffs on those products will be raised by an extra 15 percent. Eight other products, including pork, will now be subject to additional tariffs of 25 percent, it said, with the measures effective from April 2. ‘China’s suspension of its tariff concessions is a legitimate action adopted under WTO rules to safeguard China’s interests,’ the Chinese finance ministry said. China has imposed the additional tariffs amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, sparking fears of a full-blown trade spat between the world’s two biggest economies. US President Donald Trump is preparing to impose tariffs of more than 50 billion dollars on Chinese goods intended to punish Beijing over US accusations that China systematically misappropriated American intellectual property - allegations Beijing denies. China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies continue to complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandora’s Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe. In a statement published on Monday morning, Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the United States had ‘seriously violated’ the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in World Trade Organization rules, and had also damaged China’s interests. ‘China’s suspension of some of its obligations to the United States is its legitimate right as a member of the World Trade Organization,’ it said, adding that differences between the world’s two largest economies should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation. Source: The Hindustan Times. AH