Category Archives: International trade

Government to seek global trade deals for UK at expense of formal EU re-entry

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Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says joining Asia-Pacific CPTPP bloc is a ‘real win’ for exporters, even though it will preclude the UK from EU membership

The business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has signalled a new twin-track approach to UK trade policy, in which the Labour government will pursue closer ties with the European Union while at the same time seeking new global partnerships further afield.

Writing for the Observer online, Reynolds welcomes the UK’s imminent entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a “real win” for British exporters.

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PwC expecting six-month China ban over Evergrande audit

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Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse

The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.

PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.

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China begins anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy imports

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Inquiry into eight EU countries is latest chapter in hostility between Beijing and EU over trade

Chinese authorities have launched an anti-subsidy investigation into European dairy imports, in the latest sign of escalating trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing.

The announcement from China’s commerce ministry on Wednesday came a day after the European Commission revealed revised duties on Chinese electric vehicles as part of its examination into what it viewed as artificially cheap cars that posed a threat to jobs in Europe’s motor industry.

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Brexit delays to seed imports could hit crop production, say growers

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Tomato and pepper growers call for UK to strike deal with EU to avoid disruption and duplicate testing

Vegetable growers in the UK have said crops could be adversely hit this year after post-Brexit border changes resulted in delays to seed imports.

Trade bodies representing UK tomato and pepper growers said new rules for seed imports from the EU were causing delays of up to six weeks for deliveries, disrupting their growing schedules and finances.

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Large English vineyards mark boom year as output and investment soars

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Though tiny compared with rivals, English wine trade is thriving as climate crisis fuels flood of new capital from investors

The largest English vineyards increased their revenues by 15% last year, as wine investors respond to the climate crisis by planting more vines.

While the UK still languishes well down the list of the largest wine-producing nations, below countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia, the industry’s output has soared in recent years, rising by 77% last year to 161,960 hectolitres, equivalent to 21.6m bottles.

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UK food industry says lack of testing capacity forcing imports back to EU for checks

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Trade bodies blame lack of lab facilities at Brexit border posts for longer delays and shorter shelf life of food

Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.

The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.

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Chinese firms win record 11% EV share in Europe as buyers rush to beat tariffs

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State-owned SAIC, parent of the British brand MG, was responsible for biggest jump in sales in June

Chinese carmakers secured a record 11% of the European electric vehicle market in June, as buyers raced to beat EU tariffs on imported EVs that came into force this month.

The figures, which include the UK, show that about 23,000 battery electric vehicles were registered in June, up 72% on the previous month as consumers raced to beat the price hike in the EU.

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UK ready to build ‘closer, more mature’ trade links with EU

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New business secretary set to tell international counterparts at G7 meeting ‘Britain is back on world stage’

Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.

In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

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China posts record trade surplus as foreign importers rush to beat tariffs

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The $99bn figure comes as data shows exports growing at fastest rate in 15 months while imports fell

China posted a record $99bn (£76.4bn) trade surplus last month amid signs of importers bringing forward orders to beat higher tariffs on goods from the world’s second biggest economy.

The latest official figures from Beijing showed exports growing at their fastest rate in 15 months, while the weakness of China’s domestic economy resulted in falling imports.

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China to hold hearing into brandy imports as tension grows with EU over tariffs on EVs

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Ministry will discuss investigation into claims that European producers are selling goods below market rates

China has ramped up its anti-dumping investigation into European brandy imports in what appears to be a retaliatory move as the EU imposed higher tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles from Friday.

The commerce ministry in Beijing said it would hold a hearing on 18 July to discuss an investigation into claims that European brandy producers are selling products in China below market rates.

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EU brushes aside risk of China trade war over electric vehicle tariffs

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Higher levies on Chinese EV imports to come into force despite carmakers’ fears of retaliation

The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.”

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EU plan to impose import duty on cheap goods could dent Shein and Temu

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Brussels move to end tax loophole exploited by China-linked marketplaces could also dent Shein’s planned London listing

The EU is moving forward with plans to impose customs duty on cheap goods in a shift that could hit imports from online retailers and harm a hoped-for London listing by the fast-fashion seller Shein.

The potential change comes amid growing disquiet among retailers based in the UK, elsewhere in Europe, and the US about rising competition from Chinese-linked marketplaces Shein and Temu, which exploit a loophole that excludes low-value items from import duty.

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NCA failure to investigate imports linked to forced Uyghur labour unlawful, court rules

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Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners say

The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.

Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday’s decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour.

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UK must stop ‘walking on eggshells’ over post-Brexit deal, says BCC chief

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British Chambers of Commerce director general calls on politicians to improve ties with EU and strike better deal

The UK’s current trade deal with the EU is not working and the country must stop “walking on eggshells” around the issue of building closer ties with its biggest trading partner, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is expected to say.

At the annual BCC global conference in London on Thursday, Shevaun Haviland will say that the UK must forge closer ties with the EU and the next government should focus on improving trading relations to grow the economy.

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Victoria signed MoU with Israeli defence ministry to share ‘opportunities’ from ‘global tensions’

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The 2022 agreement intended to foster trade relations and ‘support greater collaboration on defence industry objectives’, documents reveal

The Victorian government quietly signed an agreement with Israel’s defence ministry to capitalise on “global tensions” and countries wanting to “protect their national interests” militarily, internal documents reveal.

The 2022 Memorandum of Understanding, signed before the Israel-Gaza war, was intended to foster trade relations and “support greater collaboration on defence industry objectives”, according to Victorian government documents released under freedom of information laws.

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Labor urged to put human rights record before trade as Chinese premier visits Canberra

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Anthony Albanese should seek commitments for concrete action in his talks with Li Qiang, campaigners say

Human rights advocates have called on Anthony Albanese to place China’s human rights record ahead of economic and trade discussions in his meeting with China’s second most powerful leader on Monday.

They said it was time for Australia’s Labor government to demand concrete action from China in addressing human rights complaints against it as “statements of concern” were not achieving results.

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China’s panda promise to Adelaide put in black and white as human rights protesters bear witness

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Wang Wang and Fu Ni have lived at the city’s zoo for 15 years but are due to head home by the end of 2024

Li Qiang has announced a panda swap for Adelaide zoo, a diplomatic move long anticipated but timed to coincide with the first visit of a Chinese premier to Australia since 2017.

Making the announcement at the zoo, Li said two new giant pandas would replace Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who have lived at the zoo for 15 years as the only specimens of their kind in the southern hemisphere.

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Stellantis says it will ‘fight’ for electric car sales rather than hide behind tariffs

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The owner of Vauxhall, Jeep and Fiat says it opposes EU measures against Chinese EVs and wants to compete ‘as a global company’

The owner of the Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall brands has said it will not take a defensive stance in the battle for electric car sales, amid signs of an escalating trade war in the market between Europe and China.

Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has criticised the EU tariffs on imported Chinese cars announced on Wednesday and said the world’s fourth biggest carmaker preferred to “fight to stay competitive”.

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EU to put tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese electric vehicles as trade war looms

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Move, to be applied provisionally from July, would trigger duties of more than €2bn a year

The EU has notified Beijing that it intends to impose tariffs of up to 38% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles, triggering duties of more than €2bn (£1.7bn) a year and a likely trade war with China.

The tariffs will be applied provisionally from next month in line with World Trade Organization rules, which give China four weeks to challenge any evidence the EU provides to justify the levies on imported EVs.

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Post-Brexit ‘mess’ as Italian driver’s lorry held for 55 hours at UK border post

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Antonio Soprano says he was told to walk to a McDonald’s for food as there was none at Sevington

An Italian lorry driver has described the UK’s new post-Brexit controls as a “mess” after his lorry was held at a government-run border post for more than two days.

Antonio Soprano, 62, who was stopped while bringing plants into the country from central Italy, said he was offered nothing to eat during his 55-hour ordeal and instead was told by border officials that he should walk to a McDonald’s more than a mile away to get a meal.

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