October 2020 International Trade Compliance Update
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Baker McKenzie International Trade Compliance Update (Covering Customs and Other Import Requirements, Export Controls and Sanc- tions, Trade Remedies, WTO and Anti-Corruption) Newsletter | October 2020 Please visit our dedicated Beyond-COVID-19 Resource Center and our In This Issue: COVID-19 Product Import/Export Review World Trade Organization (WTO) World Customs Organization (WCO) Other International Matters The Americas - North America The Americas - South America Asia-Pacific Virtual Conference | November 17 - 19, 2020 Europe, Middle East and North Africa See here for agenda, times and registration details Africa (except North Africa) This is the annual Santa Clara conference – virtual this year due to Covid-19 Newsletters, reports, articles, etc. Webinars, Meetings, Seminars, etc. Save the date: Stockholm Trade Day – The Trade Must Go On WTO TBT Notifications Please save the date for our upcoming Trade Day 2020 event in Stockholm, CBSA Adv ance Rulings taking place on 5 November 2020. We will cover recent developments and CBP Rulings: Downloads and trends in compliance, export control, trade sanctions and customs. A full Searches agenda will be sent out closer to the event. English will be used. CBP Rulings: Rev ocations or Modifi- cations Considering the ongoing pandemic we will be hosting the event as a traditional European Classification Regulations seminar in Stockholm city, but also via Zoom. In order for us to make proper arrangements that will ensure everyone’s safety, we would appreciate if you Amendments to the CN Explanatory can let us know as soon as possible if you prefer to attend via Zoom or at the Notes venue reserved for this event. Please note that there are a limited number of Section 337 Actions seats available at the venue. Antidumping, Counterv ailing Duty and Safeguard Inv estigations, Or- ders & Reviews Editor, International Trade Com- pliance Update Stuart P. Seidel Washington, D.C. +1 202 452 7088 Please see our Webinars, Meetings, Seminars section for contact and regis- [email protected] tration information for the new webinars in our 17th annual Global Trade and This may qualify as “Attorney Advertis- Supply Chain Webinar Series: International Trade Basics and Trends as ing” requiring notice in some jurisdic- well as links to past webinars and information on other events. tions. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. In addition, there are links to the video recordings, PowerPoints and handout Please see copyright and acknowl- materials of the edgements on the last page PleaseInternational see copyright Trade and Complianceacknowl- Update | OctoberEd- Inter- 2020 1 edgements on the last page itor na- tional 8503469-v8\WASDMS Trade Compliance Update Baker McKenzie Virtual Global Trade Conference (held June 14-16) and the The International Trade Compliance 2019 Year-End Import/Export Review in Santa Clara Update is a publication of the Global International Commercial To keep abreast of international trade-related news, visit our blogs: and Trade Practice Group of Baker McKenzie. Articles and comments For International Trade Compliance Updates, please regularly visit https://www.internationaltradecomplianceupdate.com/. are intended to provide our readers w ith information on recent legal de- For additional articles and updates on trade sanctions and export controls, please visit: velopments and issues of signifi- http://sanctionsnews.bakermckenzie.com/ regularly. cance or interest. They should not For resources and news regarding international trade, particularly in Asia, please visit our Trade be regarded or relied upon as legal Crossroads blog at http://tradeblog.bakermckenzie.com/. advice or opinion. Baker McKenzie To see how BREXIT (the UK exiting the EU) may affect your business, visit advises on all aspects of Interna- https://brexit.bakermckenzie.com/. tional Trade law . For additional compliance news and comment from around the world, please visit https://globalcompliancenews.com/. Comments on this Update may be sent to the Editor: Stuart P. Seidel Washington, D.C. Note: Unless otherw ise indicated, all information in this Update is taken from official ga- +1 202 452 7088 zettes, official w ebsites, new sletters or press releases of international organizations [email protected] (UN, WTO, WCO, APEC, INTERPOL, etc.), the EU, EFTA, EAEU, Customs Unions or government agencies. The specific source usually may be obtained by clicking on the A note on spelling, grammar blue hypertext link. Please note that as a general rule, information related to fisheries is and dates-- not covered. In keeping with the global nature of Baker McKenzie, the original spelling, grammar and date format- WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) ting of non-USA English language material has been preserved from COVID-19: Trade and trade-related measures the original source whether or not the material appears in quotes. The WTO has set up a dedicated webpage to help governments, business, the media and the public track the latest information on trade-related responses to Translations of most non-English language documents are unofficial the COVID-19 outbreak. For measures posted after March 31, 2020, see the and are performed via an auto- WTO COVID-19 Trade and Trade-Related Measures section below. Please see mated program and are for infor- our May 2020 Update for measures posted prior to 1 May 2020. mation purposes only. Depending on the language, readers with the Trade Policy Review: Zimbabwe Chrome browser should be able to automatically get a rough to excel- The third review of the trade policies and practices of Zimbabwe took place on 30 lent English translation. September and 2 October 2020. The basis for the review was a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Zimbabwe. Credits: WTO panel issues report re: US 25% tariffs against Chinese prod- Unless otherwise indicated, all in- ucts under sec. 301 formation is taken from official inter- national organization or government On 15 September 2020, the WTO panel reviewing “United States — Tariff websites, or their newsletters or Measures on Certain Goods from China” (DS543) released its panel report, press releases. which found that the section 301 tariffs imposed by the US against certain Chi- nese goods were prima facie inconsistent with various provisions of the General Source documents may be Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). accessed by clicking on the blue hypertext links. For the reasons set forth in the Report, the Panel concluded that: This Update contains public sector infor- mation licensed under the Open Govern- a. the parties have not reached a mutually satisfactory solution w ithin the meaning of ment Licence v3.0 of the United King- Article 12.7 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement dom. In addition, the Update uses mate- of Disputes (DSU), or otherw ise relinquished their rights to pursue WTO dispute set- rial pursuant to European Commission tlement action on the measures at issue in this dispute; policy as implemented by Commission Decision of 12 December 2011. International Trade Compliance Update | October 2020 2 8503469-v8\WASDMS Baker McKenzie b. all measures challenged by China fall w ithin the Panel's terms of reference, and it is appropriate for the Panel to make findings and recommendations w ith respect to the first measure as identified in China's panel request (additional duties of 25% on List 1 products), and the second measure as amended on 9 May 2019 (additional du- ties of 25% on List 2 products); c. the challenged measures are prima facie inconsistent w ith Articles I:1, II:1(a) and II:1(b) of the GATT 1994; and d. the United States has not met its burden of demon- strating that the measures are provisionally justified under Article XX(a) of the GATT 1994 As a consequence, the Panel concluded that the measures at issue are incon- sistent with Articles I:1, II:1(a) and II:1(b) of the GATT 1994 Under Article 3.8 of the DSU, in cases where there is an infringement of the obli- gations assumed under a covered agreement, the action is considered prima fa- cie to constitute a case of nullification or impairment. The Panel concluded that, to the extent that the measures at issue are inconsistent with certain provisions of the GATT 1994, they have nullified or impaired benefits accruing to China un- der that agreement within the meaning of Article XXIII:1(a) of the GATT 1994 Pursuant to Article 19.1 of the DSU, the Panel recommended that the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations under the GATT 1994. DSB activities During the period covered by this update, the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) or parties to a dispute took the following actions or reported the following activities. Requests for a panel are not listed (click on “DS” number to go to summaries of the case, click on “Activity” to go to the latest news or documents): DS No. Case Name Activity Date United States — Tariff Measures on Cer- DS 543 Panel report issued 15-09-20 tain Goods from China United States — Countervailing Measures US notifies DSB that DS 533 on Softw ood Lumber from Canada it w ill appeal panel 28-09-20 China – Domestic Support for Agricultural DS 511 Panel established Producers TBT Notifications Member countries of the WTO are required under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other Member countries. The WTO Secre- tariat distributes