Trade Update – 29 Apr 2021: Australia-UK FTA progresses, Indonesia & Vietnam get hit by steel duties, potential Indonesia-UK FTA in the horizon and more…
Weekly trade review provided by Chatto Creek Advisory Pty.
Chatto Creek Advisory Pty Ltd is a Melbourne-based strategic consultancy specialising in trade policy advice and government engagement strategy. It is headed by Russell Scoular, an executive with rich government relations, trade policy, and business experience throughout the Asia Pacific.
AUSTRALIA & UK MAKE SOLID FTA PROGRESS
Trade Minister Tehan and Trade Secretary Truss reported solid progress in two days of FTA talks in London. They reported consensus on the vast majority of elements and were confident further negotiations would allow an agreement to be reached by June.
INDIA WORKS TO PROTECT TRADERS
The Ministry of Commerce and Directorate-General of Foreign Trade have established an emergency COVID-19 helpdesk in a bid to keep export and import goods flowing as a virus emergency sweeps the country. The helpdesk allows importers and exporters to seek assistance.
NEW ZEALAND BOOSTS PACIFIC TRADE PRESENCE
New Zealand is to boost its trade presence in the South Pacific by opening a new Trade Commission in Fiji. Trade between the two economies is worth more than $1 billion annually. Trade Minister O’Connor said the new commission would open later this year.
AUSTRALIA LOOKS TO NEW WTO BARLEY BID
Australia is looking to a WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting proceeding this week to allow it to seek a Dispute Panel to review China’s hefty anti-dumping duties on Australian barley. A bid in March stalled when a US-Venezuelan row saw a meeting abandoned.
MALAYSIA HITS INDONESIA & VIETNAM WITH STEEL DUTIES
Malaysia has introduced anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled stainless steel imported from Indonesia and Vietnam. The duties will apply for five years and range from 7.81% to 23.84% for Vietnam and 8.80% to 34.82% for Indonesia.
ASIAN MATTRESSES GET A US TARIFF BOUNCE
The US Trade Commission has ruled that dumped and subsidized mattresses from Asia have injured the US industry. The import sources are Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties will now be applied.
AUSTRALIA FINDS DUMPING OF STEEL STRAPPING
Australia will require security deposits of up to 54.1% on some painted steel strapping imported from China following an initial finding of dumping and subsidization. Steel strapping from Vietnam will escape deposits due to a lack of material injury evidence.
INDONESIA & UK ESTABLISH TRADE DIALOGUE
Indonesia and the UK have this week established a new joint economic and trade committee to enhance trade between the economies. It follows an 18-month joint trade review. The economies have said they may explore formal FTA talks at a future point.
AUSTRALIAN WINE GETS A CANADIAN WIN
Australia and Canada have settled a long-running trade row with an agreement by Quebec to phase out discriminatory trade measures. Australia referred the dispute to the WTO in 2018. The state row has since been settled with British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
NZ & EU FACE KEY FTA NEGOTIATING GAPS
NZ and EU negotiations face key differences following a 10th video round of FTA talks. New Zealand is still awaiting an updated goods access offer by the EU and significant differences remain with regard to the possible scope of any geographical indication protection.
