South Korea recently imposed a volume-based liquor tax for beer that will reduce costs of imported U.S. craft beer, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released Jan. 8. The new 72 percent per liter liquor tax, which took effect Jan. 1, replaced the previous 72 percent “value-based liquor tax for beer,” USDA said. The change is expected to benefit “higher quality beer,” such as U.S. craft beer, which will see the “largest decline in liquor taxes,” the report said. Most “mass-produced lower price” beer will see a “minimal change” in taxes, USDA said.

China’s Department of Foreign Trade recently introduced policies to “increase support and guidance” for border trade and the tax environment, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a Jan. 8 report. The policies include “improving the functions of border trade zones,” a value-added tax exemption and a simplification of the declaration process “for small-scale border trade exports on a trial basis,” the report said. The policies will also support the development of “new models of e-commerce suited to border trade,” HKTDC said.

India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs amended its goods and services tax rules affecting supply chain actors, according to a Jan. 3 KPMG post. The rules, which took effect Jan. 1, include an “alternative composition scheme” for suppliers with an annual turnover of about $70,000 and a “higher exemption threshold through the specific request of the state and recommendation of the GST council,” KPMG said. The rules also make changes to “modes of electronic payment for specified suppliers” and penalties for profiteering violations.

China’s Foreign Ministry criticized a report released this week by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that called for U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials, saying the commission has no “objectivity or credibility whatsoever.” The report, issued Jan. 8, also called for greater U.S. export controls on surveillance technologies being sent to China and urged the Trump administration to place more Chinese companies and agencies on the Commerce Department’s Entity List due to their involvement in human rights violations (see 2001080039).

Japan’s export restrictions on South Korea have had a minimal impact on the South Korean industry, a State Department official said during a Jan. 7 press conference. The official said that both Japan and South Korea are participating in “ongoing discussions” about the trade dispute (see 1912160011). “As far as I can tell, the impact, if any, on the South Korean industry has been limited to negligible,” the official said. Japan recently eased export controls against South Korea for one of the three chemicals it had imposed restrictions on, according to a December report from the Associated Press.

China’s Commerce Ministry recently issued a circular containing 30 policies aiming to improve the trade environment in the Hainan pilot free trade zone, according to a Jan. 8 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The policies will support “construction of ports importing drugs and biological products for the first time,” HKTDC said. They will also improve the shipping sector by allowing foreign ships to be “chartered for temporary transportation under specific conditions,” permitting “international ship management companies to engage in seafarer assignment service,” the report said.

The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department recently announced new X-ray screening measures for air cargo moving through Hong Kong, according to a Jan. 2 post from Mohawk Global Logistics. The requirements will be implemented in four phases, the post said, with the final phase expected to be completed by July 2021. The first phase, implemented Jan. 1, requires 25 percent of air cargo by weight to go through security screening, the post said. Hong Kong will gradually increase the screening percentage through June 2021. Shippers will be charged a “screening cost” based on the shipment’s incoterms rule, the post said.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade plans to launch a new online sanctions platform to improve the process for making sanctions inquiries and applying for licenses. The platform, called Pax, is scheduled for launch in “early 2020,” Australia said, and replaces the Online Sanctions Administration System (OSAS), Australia’s previous online sanctions system. Australia said it will issue “user guides” to “ease this transition and all existing applications will remain in OSAS until finalised.”

Australian exporters will see significant benefits from the recent round of tariff cuts as part of the country’s free trade deals with South Korea and China and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Australia’s trade minister said Jan. 1. Several rounds of tariff cuts took effect at the start of 2020 for Australian exporters, the minister said, including reduced tariff rates for exports of milk powders, goat meat, oranges, shelled almonds and skin care products into China. Tariffs will also be reduced on lamb exports to South Korea and beef exports to Mexico, Australia said.

China has no plans to adjust its import quotas for wheat, corn and rice despite an agreement with the U.S. to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products (see 1912130035), according to an unofficial translation of a Jan. 7 report from Caixin, a Chinese financial news site. Han Jun, China’s vice minister of agricultural and rural affairs, called the import quotas a “global” quota, and said China “will not adjust for one country,” according to the report. The comments come as China’s Commerce Ministry remains vague about its plans to purchase U.S. agricultural goods despite reports that China plans to issue tariff exemptions to importers of U.S. agricultural goods more frequently (see 1912170030). The U.S. and China plan to sign phase one of the agreement Jan. 15 (see 1912310010)