International Trade and Customs Affairs Newsletter, July, 2020

Announcement No.13 [2020] of the Ministry of Commerce: Announcement on Final Determination of Sunset Review on Acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan
 

On June 5, 2020, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (the "MOFCOM") issued Announcement No. 13 of 2020, making the final determination of sunset review on acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
 

On June 8, 2008, the MOFCOM issued Announcement No.40, deciding to implement final anti-dumping measures against acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan for a period of five years as of June 9, 2008. On September 9, 2010, the MOFCOM issued Announcement No. 54, deciding to adjust the anti- dumping duty rate on acetone from KUMHO P&B CHEMICALS, INC. On June 6, 2014, the MOFCOM issued Announcement No. 40, deciding to extend the implementation of the anti-dumping measure, with an implementation period of five years as of June 8, 2014. On June 7, 2019, the MOFCOM issued Announcement No. 25 of 2019, deciding to initiate the sunset review on anti-dumping measures applicable to acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan from June 8, 2019.
 

After investigation, the MOFCOM determined that if terminating the anti-dumping measures, the dumping of acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan will continue or reoccur and the injury to domestic industry will continue or reoccur. Therefore, the anti-dumping measures on acetone from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan will continue for another five years from June 8, 2020 and the duty rate is as below:
 

Japanese companies:
 

Singapore companies:
 

Korean companies:
 

Taiwan companies
 

During the period of sunset review, CHANG CHUN PLASTICS CO., LTD. continued to submit price commitments. The MOFCOM decided to continue to implement price commitments for the products under investigation imported from CHANG CHUN PLASTICS CO., LTD. from June 8, 2020, with a five- year implementation period. During the execution of the price commitment, the products under investigation imported from CHANG CHUN PLASTICS CO., LTD. are not subject to anti- dumping duties. In the case of breach of the price commitments or other termination of price commitments, the anti-dumping duties will be imposed on the company based on the dumping margin (9.4%) determined in accordance with Announcement No. 40 of 2008.
 

China Customs Tries a New Model of Cross-border E-commerce B2B Export Supervision
 

According to statistics, the scale of China’s cross- border e-commerce transactions in 2019 is about 10.4 trillion yuan, of which export transactions exceed 8 trillion yuan, and B2B export is about 6.3 trillion yuan. At present, the B2B mainly uses general trade and market procurement supervision to declare exports, and enterprises reflect that the country lacks corresponding support measures for the model. Thus, the General Administration of Customs of China issued the Announcement No. 75 of 2020 on June 13 and decided to start the pilot of cross-border e-commerce B2B export supervision in over 10 Customs, including Beijing Customs and Tianjin Customs, beginning from July 1. The contents are as follows:
 

For more preferential policies, please refer to the Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.
 

1. After the domestic company has reached a transaction with the overseas company through the cross-border e-commerce platform, the goods will be directly exported to the overseas enterprise through cross-border logistics, and the supervision mode code will be added as “9710”; domestic enterprises deliver the export goods to overseas warehouses through cross-border logistics, and deliver the goods from overseas warehouses to buyers after transacting through the cross-border e-commerce platform. The code of the supervision method is “9810”.
 

2. Domestic enterprises such as cross-border e- commerce enterprises, cross-border e-commerce platform enterprises, logistics enterprises, and enterprises that participate in cross-border e- commerce B2B export business shall register with the local customs; cross-border e-commerce enterprises that carry out exporting overseas warehouses business shall file a record for the business model of exporting warehouses.
 

3. Domestic enterprises participating in the cross- border e-commerce B2B export business shall bear corresponding legal responsibility for the authenticity of the declared data and the transmission of electronic information; the exported goods shall comply with the relevant provisions of inspection and quarantine and cooperate with the customs inspection in accordance with the applicable regulations.
 

The announcement of the addition of cross-border e-commerce B2B export supervision will help the customs to provide better customs clearance services to cross-border e-commerce B2B exports and improve the logistics and distribution capacity of exported goods. However, DHH Law Firm hereby reminds enterprises that while enjoying this simplified declaration and facilitating customs clearance, they should also pay attention to the legal norms of their trade practices.
 

The Draft Law on Export Control Intends to Strengthen the Management of Intermediary Services for the Controlled Items
 

Since the Foreign Trade Law established the framework of China’s export control in legal form in 1994, China’s export control system has been continuously improving. On June 16, 2017, the Ministry of Commerce solicited opinions from the public on the Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China (draft); on December 28, 2019, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress conducted the first review of the Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China (draft). On June 28, 2020, the second review conducted (hereinafter referred to as the Second Review Draft). The legislative process of China’s export control is further accelerated. According to a news report published by the China National People’s Congress website (http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c30834/202006/54063 4118b7e437d913448790014fde2.shtml) on June 29, 2020, the Second Review Draft includes the following amendments:
 

1.Strengthen the punishment of export service agencies for controlled items:
 

Give warnings to export service providers who know that the export operators are engaged in export control violations but still provide them with services such as agency, freight, delivery, customs declaration, third-party e-commerce trading platforms, and financial services. Order them to stop the violations and confiscate the illegal gains. If the illegal business volume is more than 100,000 yuan, a fine of more than three times and less than five times the illegal business volume shall be imposed concurrently; if there is no illegal business volume or the illegal business volume is less than 100,000 yuan, a fine of more than 100,000 yuan and less than 500,000 yuan shall be imposed concurrently.
 

2. To further clarify Customs duties and authorities in export control:
 

The consignor of the exported goods fails to submit the license issued by the national export control administration to the customs, and if the Customs has evidence that the exported goods may fall within the scope of export control, it should challenge the consignor of the exported goods; the customs may submit identification request to the national export control administration, and dispose of it in accordance with the law based on the identification conclusion made by the national export control administration. During the period of identification or questioning, the customs shall not release the exported goods.
 

3. Further emphasis on credit management of export operators:
 

The national export control authority shall, in accordance with the law, include violations of this law by export operators in their credit records.
 

4. Improve the provisions of relief channels:
 

If relevant organizations or individuals are dissatisfied with the decision of the national export control administration to disapprove the permit, they may apply for administrative review in accordance with the law. The decision of administrative review shall be final.
 

The original text of the Second Review Draft has not yet been released to the public. After its publication, Beijing DHH Law Firm will make further analysis.



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Lawyer:                                            Lawyer:                                                  Lawyer:

Zhao Jing                                          Ma Rong Hua                                         Zu Jiapei

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Edited : Wanruo Zhang and Yuqing Wang