Trade Barriers to US Exports Include Chinese Food Restrictions, Thailand Customs, EU VAT System, Trade Groups Say

Notable international barriers to U.S. exports include Chinese food restrictions and inconsistent standardization laws, Brazil’s strict telecommunications requirements, Thailand’s discriminatory customs procedures and Europe’s value-added tax system, trade groups said in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The comments, due Oct. 31, were in response to USTR’s request for input for its upcoming National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.

Several “crucial issues” still need to be addressed to support U.S. agricultural exports to China, the U.S. Council for International Business said. The council said China should strengthen its food safety laws’ emphasis on “science-based standards” and should refer to the international standards of the Codex Alimentarius, “particularly where a relevant national food safety standard has not been implemented.” China has “inconsistently notified” the World Trade Organization of upcoming food import regulations, limiting WTO members’ opportunities to “review the proposal and provide comments,” the USCIB said. “These WTO transparency obligations are necessary for exporters to fully understand China’s import requirements and the effective date.”

Although China notified the U.S. and other foreign embassies in Beijing of its intent to require new certificates for imported food beginning in 2017, China has not yet provided justification or a “risk assessment” for the new requirements, the USCIB said. It has also not provided justification for the “onerous information requirements on its template certificate … as well as shipment-specific information inconsistent with how U.S. processed food manufacturers can obtain certificates,” the comments said.

The council said “many” U.S. exporters will not be able to comply with the requirements because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “does not issue certificates making the required attestations or including shipment-specific information.” If the requirements take effect without changes, “some companies estimate they would not be able to export any products from the United States to China,” the USCIB said.

The Information Technology Industry Council said China has introduced standardization laws to create “an increasingly burdensome standards regime” that targets foreign companies and exports. The standards require companies to “unnecessarily modify their products or services for China, thus creating a market access barrier to which Chinese companies are not subject,” the ITIC said in comments. The U.S. should encourage China to “participate in rules-based international standards development bodies,” the council said.

The USCIB said Brazil also presents significant barriers to U.S. exports of information technology and telecommunication equipment through a stringent vetting process. U.S. exporters “must present virtually all of their” IT equipment for testing in Brazilian laboratories before the equipment can be placed on the country’s market, causing “redundant testing, reduced product choice, higher costs and delayed time to market,” the comments said. The process often takes several months and may “severely delay or possibly impede market entry.”

Thailand’s customs procedures continue to discriminate against foreign companies “despite regular complaints” from the U.S. and others,” the council said. The country’s customs procedures are “motivated” by a reward system that “creates inherent conflicts of interest for Thai government officials with respect to customs 90 valuations,” the USCIB said, calling it a “stark non-tariff barrier to exports.” The system has also led to “baseless criminal charges” and provides “an incentive for corruption and false charges.”

The European Union’s value-added tax system for e-commerce has “consistently been identified as a non-tariff trade barrier,” the Computer and Communications Industry Association said in comments. Industries and exporters often report “difficulties” with a fragmented registration system across the EU, the association said, which are particularly complex and costly for small and medium-sized businesses. “Non-EU merchants are poised to remain disadvantaged due to high costs of compliance,” the comments said.

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the USCIB’s comments.