US imposes new tariffs on Chinese aluminum plate products

The US Ministry of Commerce stated on November 7th that it would increase the final anti-dumping and countervailing duties on China’s common alloy aluminum plate products from 96.3% to 176.2%. According to China customs data provided by Tradedigits, China’s aluminum exports in October fell by 3.6% to 482,000 tons in October compared with last month, the lowest level since May.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, in 2017, the average alloy aluminum plate imported from China was about 900 million US dollars. This flat rolled product is used in transportation, construction, infrastructure, as well as for electrical and marine applications.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) plans to make a final damage determination on December 20th after the approval of survey for a 4-0 vote in January.

American alumium companies including Aleris Corp (ALSD.PK), Arconic Inc (ARNC.N), Constellium NV (CSTM.N), Jupiter Aluminium Corp, JW Aluminum Company and Novelis Corp [NVLXC.UL] testified in December 2017 that “the ordinary alloy aluminium plates imported from China are too low that the price is unfair”.

Two of the companies said that imports of aluminum plates from China increased by nearly 750% over the past decade and increased by more than 91% between 2014 and 2017. “The significant increase of the market share of Chinese imports has directly damaged US aluminium industry,” they stated.

Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Virginia-based Aluminum Association, said in a statement that the association and its members were “very satisfied” with the government’s decision.

US, Mexico, Canadian to sign a new NAFTA on November 30th

According to Reuters, Mexican Economy Minister Guahardo said on Thursday that the three ministers of the United States, Mexico and Canada would sign a new trade agreement between the three countries in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 30th.

Guahardo said that it was currently uncertain whether the leaders of the three countries would all participate in the signing ceremony, but the time was determined to be November 30th.

From November 30th to December 1st, the G20 summit will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Multinational leaders will attend the summit.

Negotiations on trade agreements between the United States, Mexico and Canada have lasted for more than a year. In August, the United States and Mexico first reached a bilateral trade agreement, but Canada had disputes with the United States on several key issues and did not join the US-Mexico agreement.

At the end of September, the United States and Canada reached an agreement at the last minute to reach a new North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico. The new agreement was renamed the “US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”

To learn more about your potential buyers in the three countries – US, Canada and Mexico, please check and view Canada import data, US import data, and Mexico import data.

Argentina and China expand the amount of currency swap agreement

According to Reuters, the Argentine Central Bank said that the amount of currency swap agreement with China would nearly double, reaching 130 billion yuan ($18.7 billion).

Beijing is seeking to strengthen its influence in Latin American countries where is facing economic recession.

A spokesman for the Argentine Central Bank said that President Guido Sandleris was finalizing the agreement in China, and the agreement would be expanded by 60 billion yuan on the basis of the original 70 billion yuan.

Argentina’s first signed currency swap agreement with China to enrich its ever-decreasing currency reserve happened in 2009 during Fernandez’s administration. The current president of Argentina is Mauricio Macri. Last year, the states heads of the two countries agreed to extend the currency swap program for three years.

The reserve of the Central Bank of Argentina is about $54.25 billion. Previously, Argentina signed a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

In September, Sandris, who led the Central Bank, stabilized the peso. Regulators have begun to adopt policies to limit monetary growth, aimed at curbing inflation.

According to a recent survey of the central bank, Argentina’s inflation rate is expected to be 47.5% in 2018.

To learn more about Argentina trade including Argentina buyer directory, please search details on Argentina import data.

Costa Rica does its utmost to expand its export trade with China

Costa Rica is doing its utmost to expand its export trade with China. Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Trade Alexander Mora said that the China International Import Expo was of vital importance to the trade development of China and Colombia, for the Expo would help promote the rapid growth of Costa Rica’s exports to China.

According to Tradedigits’s market research reports and import export data, China is the second largest trading partner of Costa Rica. From January to June 2018, the import and export volume of bilateral goods between Costa Rica and China was US$1.06 billion, an increase of 3.7%. Costa Rica exported 110 million US dollars to China, an increase of 51.3%, accounting for 1.9% of its total exports, an increase of 0.4 percentage.

Tradedigits not only covers global customs trade data of more than 8 million companies in 20 countries, but more importantly, it provides you with trade analysis report service based on trade data. The powerful analysis reports and in-depth trade intelligence to give customers unparalleled insight and to help companies provide accurate data support in the development of competitive strategies and marketing strategies in the field of international trade.

Russia to resume some beef and pork imports from Brazil

Russian agricultural safety regulatory authority pronounced on Wednesday that Russia would resume its importing of beef and pork from nine factories in Brazil from Thursday and end the 11-month ban caused by food safety problems.

Russia imposed temporary restrictions on Brazilian imports of pork and beef products in December 2017. Before that, there was a company accusing that there existed ractopamine in some of its cargo, a feed additive approved in Brazil but banned in Russia.

Brazil’s meat processing group ABPA claimed the decision could increase Brazil’s pork exports this year by 20,000 tons to 640,000 tons.

The 9 plants are now approved to ship beef and pork to Russia. Once 40% of Brazilian pork is exported to its destinations in Russia, Russian companies including Minerva Foods and the leading private food processor Aurora Alimentos will proceed it.

Tradedigits provides import and export trade data of 20 countries based on bills of lading data, waybills data and entry orders data from various national customs. Our trade data service can help you get the latest, accurate and timely information on profitable products, buyers, suppliers and markets.

Honda and GAC Group to invest $469 million in plant for China’s new energy vehicles

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. will jointly invest 3.27 billion yuan (US$469 million) in new energy vehicle production in China.

The move is part of Honda and the GAC’s promotion operations to implement China’s strict green car quota.

GAC will file this in stock exchange. According to the filing document, Guangqi Honda will build a new factory that will produce 170,000 new energy vehicles per year. New energy vehicles include all electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

A professional said that the plan is supposed to let Honda to produce GAC’s battery-powered and compact SUV – Trumpche GS4. Guangqi Honda’s first plug-in hybrid model is named “Generation” and is expected to be introduced to the market this year. The new car model is based on the Trumpche GS4, and it is also with the logo of Trumpche, but at the rear of the car, there is marks of “Guangzhou Automobile Honda” and “Generation PHEV”.

This is a very unusual plan, but it provides a quick way to meet the Chinese government’s double point policy, that is, by 2019, new energy vehicles must account for 10% of the total output of automakers.

Italy’s exports to Russian falls by 1/3 due to anti-Russian sanctions

Due to EU anti-Russian sanctions and the Russian Federation’s anti-sanction, Italy’s exports have fallen by a third compared with exports in 2014.

Italian exporters lost a total of about 7 billion euros, and the head of the Russian representative office of the Italian Confindustria Russia Entrepreneur and Industrialists Association told Ernesto Ferenji from Izvestia that such damage could mean a part of the loss of the Russian market.

“Since the implementation of the sanctions, Italy’s exports to Russia has fallen by a third compared with the 14.5 billion euros export value in 2014. In the past three years, the overall decline was 45%, that is to say, during this period, the losses exceeded 7 billion euros, equivalent to a daily loss of 7 million euros for Italian exporters,” Ferlenghi said.

“This is not just a net loss, which means we have lost some of the Russian market,” Ernesto Ferlenghi said, noting that trade growth is likely to be related to the stability of the ruble and the GDP growth of the Russian Federation.

Tradedigits provides you with direct, accurate, timely, comprehensive global market data, with in-depth market analysis reports. For more information, please contact our professional information consultants by inforvellor@gmail.com.

Trade war causes US oil transport to China to drop sharply

Due to the trade war between the two countries, the US oil supply to China has fallen sharply. According to the Wall Street Journal, China became the largest buyer of US oil in the first half of this year, but oil supply fell sharply in the third quarter. China did not import oil from the United States in August, and shipped only 31,000 barrels per day in September.

As a result, US oil producers are forced to look for new buyers. And China uses Russian and Saudi Arabian supplies to replace US supplies. According to China customs import data, Saudi Arabia’s oil supply to China increased by 258,000 barrels per day in August, while Russia increased by 200,000 barrels per day.

The intensification of trade tensions between the two countries has become the main reason for China to reduce US oil imports. Jason, director of the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said: “China seeks to reduce US oil exports, aiming at one of the indicators that President Trump’s administration is proud of, that is, the US’s leadership in the energy sector.”

China’s export container shipping grows fast in September

According to the latest data of China customs data, China’s export container shipping momentum in September was strong. In September, China’s export container freight index averaged 853.97 points, up 2.9% from a month ago, as the market is still in the peak season.

China’s merchandise exports in September increased by 17% year-on-year, 7.3% higher than that in August. The China customs data shows that the total exports in the first nine months of this year increased by 6.5%.

The data shows that in September, the sub-indices of the United States, South Africa, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Japan all increased in varying degrees.

Tradedigits provides China import and export data of 8 digits HS code and 10 digits. China Customs data is a must-have for foreign trade companies to monitor the competitive environment. It includes all import and export manifests data concerning China and more than 200 countries and regions to help enterprises monitor market, price, and competitive status and provide a scientific solution for companies to establish a competitive intelligence application system.

Sino-German bilateral investment totals over 40 billion US dollars

The relevant person in charge of the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of China said in Qingdao on the 14th that the bilateral investment between China and Germany has accumulated more than 40 billion US dollars.

“In 2017, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany reached US$168.1 billion, 100 times that of 1978, accounting for nearly 30% of the total trade volume between China and the EU. China has become Germany’s largest trading partner for two consecutive years, with a total bilateral investment of more than US$40 billion. More than 8,000 German companies and more than 2,000 Chinese companies have invested in the other country. The cooperation between the two sides is apart from trade, also covering finance, technology, environmental protection, energy, humanities and other fields.” Li Yong said.

Li stated that China’s urbanization rate is growing at a rate of 1% per year. Every year more than 15 million people move from rural to live in urban areas. The demand for food, clothing, housing and transportation is huge. As China’s middle class groups grow, the characteristics of China’s consumer goods market upgrade are also very obvious. In addition, the Chinese government actively promotes a higher level of opening up to the outside world, actively builds a new pattern of comprehensive opening up, actively takes measures to promote a high-level investment on trade facilitation, implements a negative list management system, continuously optimizes the foreign investment environment, and protects foreign business people’s legal rights and intellectual property rights. Efforts will be made to improve the investment laws and regulations, substantially relax market access, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment.