I. Overview of bilateral trade and investment
In 2004, the United States was China's second largest trading partner. According to the statistics of China Customs, the total bilateral trade between China and the United States in 2004 was US$ 6543.8+069.63 billion, up 34.3% year-on-year. Among them, China exported US$ 654.38+024.95 billion to the United States, a year-on-year increase of 35.1%; Imports from the United States reached US$ 44.68 billion, up 3 1.9% year-on-year. China has a surplus of $80.27 billion. China's main products exported to the United States are mechanical and electrical products, furniture and lamps, toys, shoes, steel, plastics and their products, automobiles and their parts, clothing, leather products and bags, other textile products and optical photographic equipment. The main products imported from the United States are electromechanical, optical medical equipment, oilseed feed, aircraft, plastics and their products, organic chemicals, cotton, wood pulp, miscellaneous chemicals, steel, leather and so on.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2004, China Company completed the contracted project turnover of 240 million US dollars in the United States, and the newly signed contract amount was 380 million US dollars; The amount of labor cooperation contracts completed was $654.38+$20 million, and the amount of newly signed contracts was $50 million. By the end of 2004, China Company had completed the contracted project turnover of US$ 2.02 billion and signed the contract amount of US$ 2.8 billion. The amount of labor cooperation contracts completed was $654.38+0.9 billion, and the amount of contracts signed was $654.38+0.8 billion.
In 2004, with the approval or filing of the Ministry of Commerce of China, China established 97 non-financial Chinese-funded enterprises in the United States, with an agreed investment of US$ 654.38+US$ 400 million. By the end of 2004, China had set up 883 non-financial Chinese-funded enterprises in the United States, with a total investment of $654.38+0.9 billion.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce of China, in 2004, there were 3,925 American investment projects in China, with a contract value of121700 million US dollars, and the actually used amount was 3.94 billion US dollars. By the end of 2004, there were 45,265 direct investment projects in China by the United States, with a contract value of $986,654.38 billion and an actual investment of $48.03 billion.
Two. Overview of trade and investment management system
(a) Legal regime for trade and investment
1, major laws related to trade
The trade legal system of the United States includes tariff and customs law, import and export management law, trade remedy law, trade legislation based on security considerations and domestic legislation for the implementation of many foreign trade agreements. The United States is a common law country, and its trade legal system includes both written law and effective court cases.
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Examples are the concrete implementation or effective supplement of written law. Statutory laws passed by Congress can be found in the collection of laws, most of which have been incorporated into the United States Code 19, while cases are included in various legal reports.
The following laws constitute the pillar legislation of the American trade legal system. The revised Customs Tax Law 1930 is the main law for tariff formulation and collection, and it also stipulates anti-dumping and countervailing issues. The revised Trade Law 1974 stipulates non-tariff barriers, GSP treatment for developing countries, safeguard measures and 30 1 investigation. The revised Trade Agreement Act 1979 approved the results of the Tokyo Round negotiations, and incorporated trade remedies, customs valuation, government procurement, product standards and other achievements into the US trade law system. 1988 comprehensive trade competition law strengthened the power of administrative departments to conduct trade negotiations and take measures against unfair trade, and comprehensively revised many existing trade laws at that time, including countervailing and anti-dumping laws, 1979 trade agreement law and 30 1 clause of 1974 trade law.
In addition, trade-related laws include Trade Act of 2002, Uruguay Round Agreement Act and Administrative Interpretation of Uruguay Round Agreement Act (1994), North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (1993), US-Canada Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act and1.
2. Major laws related to investment
The legal system of foreign investment management in the United States includes the following three aspects of legislation:
(1) Legislation of investment declaration review
These laws include General Survey of International Investment and Service Trade, Foreign Agricultural Investment Disclosure Law and National Defense Production Law 1950 (commonly known as Exxon-Florio Amendment).
(2) Legislation on national treatment and departmental restrictions
The United States has restrictions on foreign investment in energy, minerals and fisheries. Such as the atomic energy law of 1954 and the mineral leasing law of 1920.
(3) Investment-related agreements signed with foreign countries
At present, the United States has signed and entered into force 38 bilateral investment treaties with other countries or regions. At the same time, many bilateral and regional trade agreements signed by the United States also cover investment management.
(2) Transaction management system
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1, tariff system
(1) average tariff level and its change
The United States gives most-favored-nation tariff treatment to all WTO members except Cuba. The weighted average tariff level of the United States was 1.5% in 2003 and 1.6% in 2004. Some products, such as tobacco, peanuts and dairy products, sugar and some footwear products, are protected by tariffs as high as 50% ~ 350%. In 2004, the average tax rate of American industrial products was about 4%. In the current new round of WTO negotiations, the United States proposed to cancel all industrial tariffs before 2005, and greatly reduce agricultural tariffs.
(2) American tariff system
The United States tariff system adopts the United States unified tariff table, which is based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System of the Customs Cooperation Council. Most American tariff rates are ad valorem, but some imported products, mainly agricultural products, need to pay specific tax. In addition, some products need to pay tariffs at the compound tax rate. Some products, including sugar, are also subject to tariff quotas.
The tariffs in the United States Tariff Coordination Table are listed in two columns, one column includes the most-favored-nation treatment rate (which the United States calls the normal trade relations treatment rate) and the special preferential tax rate, and the other column lists the tax rates applicable to countries that do not enjoy the most-favored-nation treatment rate.
2, the main import management system
The United States mainly relies on tariffs to manage and regulate imported products and their scale, but for relatively sensitive imported products, such as agricultural products, the United States also adopts tariff quotas. In terms of textile trade, on June 5438+1 October1day, 2005, the United States cancelled the textile quota restrictions as scheduled. In government procurement, the parts not covered by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement are governed by the Buy American Act 1933. Secondly, due to environmental protection, national security, balance of payments and other reasons, Congress authorized the administrative departments to restrict imports through many domestic legislation, such as quota management, prohibition of imports, and imposition of import surcharges. Such laws include the Law on the Protection of Marine Mammals (Animal Protection) of 1972 and Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Law of 1962 (National Security); Trade law 1974 (payment of balance), article 122, etc. Finally, there are still a large number of product standards in American business practice, which also play a role in restricting imports to a certain extent.
3. Major export management systems
(1) export control
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In order to protect national security, promote American foreign policy, limit the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons and missile technology, and ensure the adequate supply of some materials in short supply in China, the US government has imposed export control on some products. According to the different export products and policy purposes, the management functions of export control are implemented by the Ministry of Commerce, the State Council Industrial Safety Bureau and the Ministry of Finance respectively.
The Industrial Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce is responsible for issuing export licenses for scarce materials and dual-use products, and its laws are the International Emergency Economic Power Law, the Export Administration Law 1979 and the Export Administration Regulations.
The State Council is responsible for the administration of export licenses for defense products and services, and the law is the Arms Export Control Law.
The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the management of goods exported to countries, companies and individuals subject to US trade and economic sanctions through export licenses, which are based on the International Emergency Economic Power Act, the Trading with the Enemy Act, the United Nations Participation Act and the current anti-terrorism measures.
(2) Export promotion
The export promotion of the United States is mainly manifested in export financing, tax-free treatment in foreign trade zones, export tax rebate, exemption of some overseas income of foreign sales companies from income tax, and trade adjustment assistance programs.
① Export financing
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is the official export credit agency. The bank provides financing to exporters and overseas buyers through a series of loans, guarantees and insurance schemes. In fiscal year 2004, the budget of the Export-Import Bank can provide about11600 million dollars to support exports.
② Foreign trade zone
A foreign trade zone is established according to the Foreign Trade Zone Law 1934, and foreign goods and domestic goods entering the foreign trade zone are exempted from customs duties, storage taxes or consumption taxes. Foreign trade is divided into general trade zones and separate trade zones.
③ Tax refund
1930 article 3 13 of the customs tax law establishes the tax refund system. According to this tax refund system, customs duties or other taxes levied on imported goods or raw materials should be refunded at the time of export.
④ Trade adjustment assistance
At present, American trade adjustment assistance includes workers' trade adjustment assistance plan and farmers' trade adjustment assistance plan.
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Plan and enterprise trade adjustment assistance plan. It is based on the contents of Trade Law 1974, which was revised by Trade Law A in 2002. The Trade Act of 2002 extended these three aid programs to September 30, 2007. According to the revised law, from 2003 to 2007, in addition to allowing some medical insurance premiums as tax credits and special wage differential subsidies for workers over 50 years old, 20 million US dollars can be provided for training qualified workers in each fiscal year. In addition, each fiscal year can be used to assist qualified enterprises160 thousand dollars, and the budget for assisting farmers is as high as 90 million dollars.
4. Other trade-related tariff systems.
In addition to the basic MFN tariff rate, some countries also enjoy more favorable tariff arrangements under the reciprocal free trade agreement signed with the United States. In addition, most developing countries and least developed countries can enjoy special preferential tariffs under the tariff preferential plan unilaterally established by the United States.
(1) Reciprocal Free Trade Agreement
In 2004, the United States completed negotiations with Australia and Morocco, increasing the number of free trade zone agreements to 12; In addition, the United States is also a member of five regional trade arrangements, including the North American Free Trade Area. Members of these reciprocal free trade agreements enjoy more favorable treatment than MFN tariff rate according to their respective agreements. In order to implement these trade agreements, the US Congress has promulgated corresponding laws, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act and the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement Act.
(2) Preferential tariff scheme
In addition to reciprocal arrangements, the United States has also established some unilateral tariff preference schemes, which are mainly applicable to developing countries and least developed countries. Among them, the oldest is the GSP scheme introduced by 1976. According to this scheme, about 4,650 products from 135 countries and regions enjoy duty-free export treatment to the United States. In 2004, Algeria and Iraq were added as GSP beneficiaries, while Chile, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, antigua island, barbuda island, Barbados and Bahrain no longer enjoyed the GSP treatment of the United States because they signed free trade agreements with the United States, joined the European Union or left the GSP.
Similar preferential arrangements include the African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000, which provides duty-free treatment for products from sub-Saharan Africa, the Andean Trade Preference Act and the Caribbean Basin Programme.
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5. Other related systems
(1) customs system
Since the promulgation of security measures in 2002, the import procedures in the United States have undergone major changes. The new regulations require that goods shipped to the United States should transmit relevant electronic information to the American authorities before departure; The United States has reached agreements with some foreign seaports to inspect the goods in containers bound for the United States. In addition, the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires most food production and processing enterprises to register, and all food vessels destined for the United States must notify the US Food and Drug Administration in advance.
(2) Trade remedy measures
American trade remedy system can be divided into two aspects: affecting imports and affecting exports. The relief measures for imports mainly include anti-dumping and countervailing measures against unfair price competition, safeguard measures to adjust imports, and measures to use Article 337 for imported products that infringe US intellectual property rights. The relief of export trade is mainly reflected in the application of 30 1 series clauses.
The main contents of the current anti-dumping and countervailing laws in the United States are basically reflected in Chapter IV of the Revised Customs Tax Law in Part 1930 and Chapter IV of Part 19 of the United States Code, and the specific administrative regulations are distributed in Part 19 of the United States Federal Administrative Regulations. The President may take safeguard measures for specific imported products as authorized by Article 20 1-204 of the Trade Law 1974. This authorization can be used if there is no unfair competition in imported goods. For imported products suspected of infringing on American intellectual property rights, the United States mainly protects the rights and interests of American intellectual property owners through Article 337 of the Customs Tax Law 1930. The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is the enforcement agency of Section 337. The agency can issue an exclusion order instructing the customs to prohibit the import of goods that infringe the intellectual property rights of the United States.
Article 30 1974 of Trade Law is the main law that protects the rights and interests of American companies, expands the overseas market access of American products and services, and opposes foreign infringement of intellectual property rights, which affects the export of American products. This law provides specific procedures for the US Trade Representative to investigate foreign infringement and seek solutions through consultation with foreign governments. The extended application of clause 30 1 is manifested in super clause 30 1 and special clause 30 1 for intellectual property protection. The 30 1 series clauses are specifically implemented by the office of the US Trade Representative.
(3) the influence of political and economic security measures on trade.
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For political and economic security reasons, the US government can restrict or manage imports and exports as long as they comply with relevant laws. This kind of legislation includes: 1977 passed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which authorizes the President to freeze foreigners' assets in the United States, impose a trade embargo or take other appropriate measures when national security, foreign policy or economic interests are threatened; Trade with the Enemy Act, President Bush extended part of the authorization of the Act 1 year on September, 2004, that is, to September, 2005, 65438+4; Drug control trade law; Law on International Security and Development Cooperation1985; "Prohibition of trade with Cuba" and many other legislations.
(3) Investment management system
There are basically no restrictions on investment in the United States, but there are some specific regulations in the following relatively sensitive industries.
1, aviation
According to the regulations of the US Department of Transportation, foreign companies should not buy more than 25% of the shares of American Airlines, and the proportion of American directors on the board of directors of airlines should not be less than two-thirds. The application of foreign companies to acquire American airlines is examined and approved by the US Department of Transportation.
Step 2 communicate
According to the provisions of the Federal Communications Law of the United States, if a foreign citizen, foreign company or foreign government controls one-fifth of the shares of American Communications Company, or the company has more than one-quarter of foreign directors, the US government will refuse to issue a license to the company to conduct business in the United States.
3. Ships
For shipping companies operating in the coastal and inland waters of the United States, the shares of foreign individuals, companies or governments in American shipping companies shall not exceed 25%, otherwise the shipping rights in coastal and inland waters will be revoked. It is illegal for American shipping companies to sell ships registered in the United States to foreign companies without the approval of the Federal Secretary of Transportation, and will be investigated by American law.
4. Atomic energy
The Federal Atomic Energy Act of the United States has strict restrictions on foreigners' participation in atomic energy production.
5. Finance
Opening finance to foreign capital is regulated by federal and state laws, because many laws do not.
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First, it is more complicated. Generally speaking, according to the federal international banking law and state laws, foreign companies entering this field through mergers and acquisitions will be strictly controlled.
(four) the main trade and investment management departments
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to manage foreign trade and levy tariffs. Congress passed a series of laws to delegate many functions to relevant administrative departments. At the same time, the executive branch maintains close contact with the main committees of the National Assembly and private sector advisory groups in its work.
In terms of foreign trade management, the main responsibilities of the administrative department of the United States government include three aspects: first, collecting tariffs, which are implemented by the Ministry of Finance and the Customs; The second is import and export management and services, which are specifically implemented by the US Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture and the Customs. Third, foreign trade negotiations are mainly handled by the National Economic Council under the President and the US Trade Representative.
1, Congress
Article 1, paragraph 8, of the Constitution of the United States clearly stipulates that Congress has the right to tax and manage foreign trade. Therefore, the conclusion of free trade agreements, the implementation and modification of tariff measures and related trade measures must be implemented according to the specific legislation of Congress or within the scope specially authorized by Congress.
The role of congress in trade policy decision-making is basically divided into two aspects: trade legislative power and supervision power. In order to ensure the correct implementation of the trade law by the administrative department, Congress requires the administrative department to consult it regularly. Congress also requires the Office of the US Trade Representative and the US International Trade Commission to submit a large number of reports every year to evaluate the trade measures taken by the United States so that Congress can understand the implementation of these measures.
The Senate and the House of Representatives have more than a dozen special committees dealing with foreign trade management, among which the fundraising committee of the House of Representatives and the finance committee of the Senate play an important role.
2, the government administrative department
(1) US Trade Representative
The predecessor of the US Trade Representative was the Special Trade Representative established under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and 1980 was changed to its current name. As a member of the President's Cabinet, the US Trade Representative is the President's main trade adviser, foreign negotiator and trade spokesman, who is specifically responsible for promoting and coordinating US international trade and direct investment policies, and conducting negotiations with other countries in the above areas. Through several pieces of legislation, its responsibility and importance are constantly improving.
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In addition, in the 1988 Comprehensive Trade and Competition Law, Congress requires the Office of the US Trade Representative to be the representative of the following institutions or conferences: various institutions established by the President that lead international trade, and all economic summits or other international conferences with the theme of international trade. According to the anti-dumping and countervailing laws of the United States. As well as unfair trade cases such as Section 337 and Section 30 1, the Office of the US Trade Representative is also responsible for identifying and coordinating institutional resources.
According to the Uruguay Round Agreement Law, the Office of the United States Trade Representative has the main responsibility for negotiations on all issues considered by the WTO.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative was reorganized in June 2003. The China office and the Japanese office were abolished and merged into the North Asia office. The Office of the United States Trade Representative also has three deputy ambassadors.
(2) Ministry of Commerce
The Department of Commerce is the main government department in charge of foreign trade management and export promotion in the United States. Its main functions are: to implement American foreign trade laws and regulations and implement policies to promote American foreign trade and investment; Supervise the implementation of multi-bilateral trade agreements; Provide consulting and training for American enterprises.
The main departments in charge of foreign trade management of the Ministry of Commerce are the International Trade Administration and the Industrial Safety Administration. The Bureau of International Trade is mainly responsible for promoting the development of American export trade; Conduct trade statistics and collect tariff rate information; Supervise market access and the implementation of international trade agreements signed by the United States, and eliminate barriers to foreign market access; Conduct anti-dumping and countervailing investigations. The Bureau of Industrial Safety is mainly responsible for formulating, implementing and explaining the export control policies of dual-use products, software and technologies in the United States, and issuing corresponding export licenses.
(3) International Trade Commission
The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) is a federal agency. Its predecessor was 19 16, which was established by congress (renamed ITC in the trade law of 1974), and it has extensive investigation power on trade issues.
The main tasks of the US International Trade Commission include: judging whether domestic industries in the United States have suffered substantial damage due to imports below fair prices or subsidies; Take corresponding countermeasures against unfair trade behaviors such as infringement of intellectual property rights (the president has veto power); It is suggested to the president that the industrial sector seriously damaged by the increase in imports should receive relief.
(4) Customs
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Customs is responsible for collecting import taxes and enforcing as many as 400 laws and regulations related to international trade. According to Article 402 of the Homeland Security Law of 2002, the customs is placed under the newly established Homeland Security Bureau, but the customs taxation function previously authorized by law to the Ministry of Finance is still under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.
(5) coordinating body
(1) Coordination mechanism of trade policy.
American government departments and Congress mainly coordinate the formulation of foreign trade policies through three different levels of coordination agencies, namely, the Trade Policy Working Committee, the Trade Policy Review Group and the National Economic Council. The first two bodies are chaired by trade negotiators.
From 65438 to 0993, President Clinton established the National Economic Council as the highest-level coordinating body, which was directly under the leadership of the President and consisted of the Vice President, the Secretary of State, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Labor. The Committee is mainly responsible for reviewing and evaluating trade policy memoranda and special or controversial trade policy issues submitted by the trade policy review group.
② Investment Policy Coordination Department.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was established in 1975, and is responsible for the implementation of American investment policies, such as reviewing cross-border mergers and acquisitions under the Exxon-Florio Amendment.
The merger case materials submitted to the Foreign Investment Committee shall include the basic information of the acquirer, the general situation of the merger transaction, the assets to be acquired and the future plan. The Committee on Foreign Investment will decide whether to approve the merger within one month after receiving the declaration, and it can also have 45 days to investigate if it thinks it is necessary to conduct further review. The only criterion examined by the Committee on Foreign Investment is whether the merger will endanger national security. If the Committee on Foreign Investment believes that the merger will threaten national security, it will ask the President of the United States to review the merger, and the President will make a decision on whether to ban the merger within 15 days.
3, the private sector advisory committee system
The private sector advisory committee system was first stipulated in Article 135 of Trade Law 1974, and expanded by Trade Agreement Law 1979 and Comprehensive Trade and Competition Law 1988, forming a three-level private sector advisory system currently managed by the US Trade Representative. The highest level is the Trade Policy and Negotiation Advisory Committee, and these representatives are appointed by the President. The middle layer consists of policy advisory committees representing the economy of industry, agriculture, service industry and other sectors. Experts from all walks of life constitute the basic layer of the system, responsible for the specific
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Provide specific technical information on trade issues in this field. Middle-level and grass-roots representatives are appointed by the US Trade Representative or the leaders of relevant departments.
Third, trade barriers.
(1) tariff and tariff management measures
1, high tariffs and tariff peaks
The overall tariff level in the United States is low, but there are still high tariffs and tariff peaks in some areas. At present, 7.5% of the total tax items in the United States have high tariffs that are more than three times the average tariff level, and 4.3% have tariffs that exceed 15%. High tariffs and tariff peaks are mainly concentrated in textiles and clothing, leather, rubber, ceramics, footwear and tourism products, which are the main products exported by China to the United States and have a great influence on China products. Judging from the specific categories of goods such as shoes and ceramic products, the United States usually applies lower tax rates to products with high prices, while higher tax rates are applied to products with low prices. At present, China products occupy a high share in the low-end market in the United States, and this tariff structure makes China products in an unfavorable competitive position in the American market.
2. Sliding tax rate
The tariff escalation in the United States is even more serious. The arithmetic average tariff of the United States on minerals, precious metals and gems is 0.43% for primary products, 1. 17% for semi-finished products and 6. 12% for finished products. The arithmetic average tariff of textile and clothing products is 7. 17% for primary products, 9.2 1% for semi-finished products and 0/0.16% for finished products. Taking products with single tax items as an example, the tax rate of untwisted single yarn spun by non-retail polyamide -6 is 0, the tax rate of unbleached or bleached pure nylon cloth is 13.6%, and the tax rate of knitted or crocheted T-shirts and undershirts made of chemical fibers is 32%. The tariff structure of the above products obviously restricts China's export of high value-added semi-finished or finished products to the United States, which harms the reasonable interests of China's export enterprises.
3. Tariff quotas
In order to control the import quantity and protect the interests of domestic producers, the United States imposes tariff quotas on some agricultural products. Agricultural products subject to tariff quotas in fiscal year 2004 include almost all dairy products, sugar and sugary products, peanuts and some peanut products, unprocessed tobacco leaves and processed tobacco, tuna, most fresh, frozen or refrigerated beef and cotton. Impose high tariffs on products exceeding the quota, such as skim milk powder, with an average tariff level of 2.2% within the quota and 52.6% outside the quota.
(2) Import restrictions
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1, import is prohibited.
1962 Paragraph 2 of Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Law stipulates that the US Department of Commerce may initiate Article 232 investigation on its own or at the application of other departments or interested parties to assess whether the relevant imported products have caused damage or threat to US national security, and submit a report thereon to the President, who will decide whether to take adjustment measures on the imported products. From 1980 to now, the U.S. Department of Commerce has completed the section 232 investigation of 16.
Although the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 stipulates the factors that should be considered when determining whether the import of a product causes damage or destructive threat to national security, the president and the US Department of Commerce and other administrative departments enjoy great discretion in actual operation due to unclear standards. In addition, there is no need to provide evidence of substantial damage to industries in the United States when investigating related industries applying for Article 232, which greatly lowers the threshold for initiating Article 232 investigations, and it is difficult to distinguish whether the purpose of enterprises applying for Article 232 investigations is to prevent national security from being undermined or to avoid competition with imported products. Therefore, China hopes that the United States will use the above measures cautiously so as not to affect normal trade.
2. Enter the limit
According to the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, the United States cancelled all textile quotas on June 5438+1 October1. However, in specific implementation, the United States still has the following restrictive measures.
On February 3rd, 2004, 65438+February 3rd, 2004, the Executive Committee of the American Textile Agreement issued the processing procedures for some imported textiles that were exported to the United States in 2004 but exceeded the 2004 quota, indicating that these over-quota imports were not allowed to enter the country immediately after the quota was cancelled on June 6th, 2005 +20081October 6th, but were based on the 2004 quota every month. In addition, all imports exceeding the quota are required to submit customs declaration materials within the specified time to ensure that 5% of the quota is distributed in proportion among all products, and the part exceeding 5% will be delayed until next month or later. Delaying the entry of products will inevitably increase the storage cost of importers and hinder the timely supply of products involved.
In addition, in the absence of factual evidence in line with the provisions of the bilateral agreement, the United States unilaterally determined that China's textiles were illegally re-exported and deducted China's textile export quota to the United States, which greatly hindered China's normal textile export to the United States. In fact, according to the Chinese investigation, a considerable part of China's illegal textile re-export identified by the United States is the re-export trade of enterprises to third countries (regions), and a considerable part is the products that China enterprises normally export to third countries (regions), and are re-exported to the United States by American importers and American customs officers in collusion.
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Country. China has made many representations with the United States, but the United States has only partially corrected its wrong practices.
Obstacles to customs clearance
1, some products have unreasonable customs clearance requirements.
US Customs requires exporters to provide all additional documents and relevant information when the imported products are cleared. For some imported products, such as textiles, clothing or shoes, the required information far exceeds the normal customs clearance. These procedures are not only cumbersome and expensive, but also constitute trade barriers for exporters, especially small exporters.
In some cases, U.S. Customs also requires confidential processing procedure information for textile and clothing imports. For example, clothing whose appearance is made of more than one material needs to provide relevant weight, component value and surface area of each component, which objectively leads to an increase in cost.
In addition, in June 5438+ 10, 2003, the United States issued a regulation that all glasses shipped to the United States must provide a "drop test certificate" with the goods, otherwise they will not be cleared. The scope of glasses stipulated by the US Customs includes ordinary glasses and sunglasses, and glasses sent by express mail as samples are no exception.
2. Biological Counter-Terrorism Law
China agrees with the anti-terrorism efforts made by the United States through the Public Health and Safety and Bioterrorism Prevention and Response Act (referred to as the Bioterrorism Act) promulgated in June 2002 and the Food Enterprise Registration Regulations promulgated by the US Food and Drug Administration. However, it is worried that the above measures may have negative effects such as slow customs clearance, increased export costs of enterprises and increased uncertainty in the export market. Especially in terms of market uncertainty, according to the report of the US Food and Drug Administration on the refusal of imported products to enter the market, by the end of 2004, the total batch of China products refused to enter the US market had reached 18 15. China is concerned about this.
3. Container Security Initiative and 24-hour rule
In order to prevent terrorists from using containers to carry out terrorist activities, the United States launched the "Container Security Initiative" on June 5438+ 10, 2002, and cooperated with foreign customs to fight terrorism. By February 2005, 45 ports in 23 countries or regions had pledged to join the initiative. On July 29th, 2003, China also signed a declaration of principles with the United States, covering two container ports, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
In order to better implement this measure, the United States released the "24-hour warehouse receipt forecasting rule" on June 3, 2002, and it came into effect on February 2, 2003. The rule requires shipping companies or non-shipping companies
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The carrier electronically informs the US Customs of the details of each container 24 hours before the arrival of the boxed goods destined for the United States at the destination port of the United States for customs verification. Some shipping companies have to charge the shipper a surcharge for forecasting warehouse receipts to pass on the increased costs, which obviously increases the cost of exporting to the United States through sea containers. China's identification with the United States?
References:
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