Exporters Still Have Problems in China, USTR Says

In an annual report about China's compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments, the U.S. trade representative repeated complaints from last year's report (see 1902050024) about how U.S. imports are treated by Chinese customs authorities.

Instead of using the price that Chinese companies paid for the imports, China continues to use reference pricing particularly for information technology products and wood products. “There is no legitimate basis for these actions,” USTR said. U.S. companies also complain that some customs officials assess duties on data on a CD-ROM, even though “China’s own regulations require this assessment to be made on the basis of the value of the underlying carrier medium, meaning the floppy disk or CD-ROM itself.”

“U.S. exporters continue to be concerned about inefficient and inconsistent customs clearance procedures in China. These procedures vary from port to port, lengthy delays are not uncommon, and the fees charged appear to be excessive,” the report said.