A view of the Yangpu Economic Development Zone and its coastline, a key park of the Hainan Free Trade Port, taken on December 29, 2023. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Pu Xiaoxu
On December 8, 2023, the customs officer of Zhangjiagang Customs in Jiangsu Province walked into the production workshop of JATCO (Suzhou) Automatic Transmission Co., Ltd., and through on-site research, established a comparative list of tariff concessions under RCEP and other free trade agreements for enterprises, optimized the preferential policy options for enterprises, and helped enterprises make full use of RCEP policies. Photo by Ren Guangzhen (People's Vision)
Drawing by Cheng Shuo (Xinhua News Agency)
Zero tariffs will be imposed on some anti-cancer drugs and drugs for rare diseases, the provisional import rates of lithium chloride, cobalt carbonate and sweet corn for seed purposes will be reduced to zero, and China and Nicaragua will immediately implement zero tariffs on about 60% of their respective tariff items......
Experts said that in recent years, China's overall tariff level has continued to decrease, and more and more goods have entered the "zero tariff era", which is not only conducive to enhancing the linkage effect of domestic and international markets and resources, improving people's livelihood and well-being, benefiting the development of enterprises, maintaining the stability and smoothness of the domestic industrial chain and supply chain, but also conducive to promoting high-level opening up to the outside world, so that the world can share more opportunities for China's development.
Imported goods –
The provisional tax rate for some anti-cancer drugs and resource-based commodities has been adjusted to zero
According to the newly released 2024 tariff adjustment plan (hereinafter referred to as the "plan"), from January 1, China will implement provisional import tariffs lower than the most-favored-nation rate for 1,010 goods.
Combing through the plan, the reporter found that the provisional tax rate on the import of some drugs and raw materials was directly adjusted to zero, such as anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of liver malignant tumors, rare disease drug raw materials for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, and ipratropium bromide solution for drug inhalation that can be widely used in the treatment of childhood asthma diseases in clinical practice.
"The implementation of zero tariffs on drugs and raw materials for some anti-cancer drugs and rare disease drugs will help reduce the cost of drugs, reduce the burden of drug costs on patients, especially cancer patients, and have more drug choices, so as to further protect people's lives and health. Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the Academic Committee of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in fact, in recent years in the tariff adjustment, medicine has been the focus of tariff reduction, and many import tariffs on anti-cancer drugs, rare disease drugs and related raw materials have been reduced to zero.
On May 1, 2018, China adjusted the import tariffs on some drugs, removing import tariffs on 28 drugs, including many types of imported anti-cancer drugs. In October of that year, 17 anti-cancer drugs were included in the reimbursement list of medical insurance, an average reduction of 56.7% compared with the previous average retail price.
Since then, China has successively abolished import tariffs on a number of drugs and raw materials: in 2019, the provisional import tax rates of oxaliplatin, carboplatin, nidaplatin, cisplatin and other raw materials for anticancer drugs were adjusted to zero, in 2020, zero tariffs were implemented on empagliflozin, linagliptin and vildagliptin, which are raw materials for the treatment of asthma and raw materials for the production of new diabetes drugs, in 2021, zero tariffs were implemented on the second batch of raw materials for anticancer drugs and rare disease drugs, and in 2022, zero tariffs were implemented on new anticancer drugs Radium Chloride Injection.
The plan also clearly reduces the import tariffs on lithium chloride, cobalt carbonate, low-arsenic fluorite, sweet corn, coriander, burdock seeds and other commodities, and the provisional import tax rate has reached zero. According to expert analysis, lithium chloride, cobalt carbonate and other commodities are key raw materials for the new energy vehicle industry, and fluorite is an important mineral resource.
"The tariff reduction mentions coriander, which is often referred to as coriander, which is a major benefit to our company's imports. Xu Minghui, deputy general manager of Shandong Golden Seed Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., said that the company imports about 300 tons of coriander seeds every year, and the previous cost was about 15 yuan per kilogram.
Free Trade Partners——
There is a gradual increase in the number of products with mutual tariffs removed
The tariff adjustment involves not only the provisional import tax rate, but also the agreed tax rate, and zero tariff is also one of the highlights.
On January 2, Hubei ushered in the province's first China-Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement "zero tariff" certificate. On the same day, Wuchang Customs, a subsidiary of Wuhan Customs, issued a certificate of origin for Chibi Yayuan Trading Co., Ltd. under the China-Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement, and the textile fabric certificate exported by the enterprise to Nicaragua can enjoy a tariff reduction of about 18,000 yuan from the importing country.
Yu Yawen, head of Yayuan, said: "We are mainly engaged in the trade of textile fabrics, and Nicaragua is one of the company's export destinations. After learning that the tariff rate for textile fabrics exported to Nicaragua in 2024 could be reduced from the original 10% to zero, we applied for a certificate of origin under the guidance of the customs and enjoyed this tariff bonus for the first time. ”
On January 1 this year, the China-Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement officially entered into force. According to the agreement, the two sides will achieve high-level mutual opening-up in the fields of trade in goods, trade in services, and investment market access. In terms of trade in goods, the two sides will eventually implement zero tariffs on products exceeding 95% of their respective tariff lines, of which the proportion of products that will be subject to zero tariffs immediately will be about 60% of their respective total tariff lines. This means that tariffs on beef, shrimp, coffee, cocoa, jam and other products produced in Nicaragua will be gradually reduced to zero when they enter the Chinese market, and tariffs will be gradually reduced and eliminated when products made in China such as automobiles, motorcycles, batteries, photovoltaic modules, clothing and textiles enter the Chinese market.
Nicaragua's Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Iván Acosta, said: "The signing of the FTA with China is a great opportunity for Nicaragua, and we believe that access to this huge market will allow us to grow rapidly. ”
In recent years, China's "circle of friends" for free trade has been expanding. Shortly after the signing of the China-Nepal FTA, China and Serbia signed a FTA, which is the 22nd FTA signed by China with other countries, and Serbia has become China's 29th FTA.
According to the person in charge of the International Department of the Ministry of Commerce, the China-Cyprus Free Trade Agreement focuses on making relevant arrangements for trade in goods, and the two sides will cancel tariffs on 90% of the tariff items respectively, of which more than 60% of the tariff items will be cancelled immediately after the agreement takes effect, and the proportion of the final zero-tariff import value of both sides will reach about 95%. The Cypriot side will include automobiles, photovoltaic modules, lithium batteries, communication equipment, machinery and equipment, refractory materials, and some agricultural and aquatic products that China is focusing on into zero tariffs, and the tariffs on relevant products will be gradually reduced from the current 5%-20% to zero; the Chinese side will include generators, electric motors, tires, beef, wine, nuts, etc., which are the key concerns of the Cypriot side, and the tariffs on relevant products will also be gradually reduced from the current 5%-20% to zero.
The new signing has been accelerated, and there are new changes that have been implemented. This year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has entered its third year of entry into force, and the 15 RCEP member countries will further reduce tariffs on light industry, automobiles, electronics, petrochemicals and other products in accordance with the agreement's commitments, and further increase the number of products included in zero tariffs.
"In the two years since the implementation of RCEP, the tariff reduction and exemption dividend has been released at an accelerated pace, and we have used the preferential policy of origin (cumulative rules) to export to RCEP countries, saving more than 500 yuan in import tariffs for customers, and effectively improving the competitiveness of our products in the international market. Han Jie, Minister of Import and Export Customs of Dongyue Group, said.
Fan Zuojun, vice president of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that tariff reduction and exemption are the key content in the RCEP agreement. According to the agreement, tariffs will be set in pairs between member countries, tariffs on more than 90% of products will be gradually reduced to zero over a period of about 10 years, and uniform rules of origin will be implemented in the region, stipulating that the value of origin of goods can enjoy the treatment calculated cumulatively within member countries, which will continue to promote trade liberalization and facilitation among member countries.
Free Trade Zone Free Trade Port——
The list of "zero tariffs" continues to expand
Further promote the implementation of more "zero tariff" policies, and pilot free trade zones and free trade ports are at the forefront.
On December 29, 2023, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and other five departments issued an announcement to pilot the relevant import tax policies and measures in the conditional pilot free trade zones and free trade ports, which clarified that in the special customs supervision areas of the Hainan Free Trade Port that implement the "first-line" liberalization and "second-line" control of the import and export management system, the goods that are temporarily allowed to enter the pilot area for repair from abroad from abroad from the date of implementation of this announcement will be exempted from customs duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax if they are re-shipped out of the country.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce said that this measure has adjusted the "first-line" import bonded and re-export tax exemption of goods that have entered the special customs supervision area of the Hainan Free Trade Port for repair to direct tax exemption, breaking through the current bonded policy; at the same time, allowing goods that are not re-exported to be transferred to domestic sales will be conducive to the development of the relevant maintenance industry.
In recent years, the Hainan Free Trade Port has made new progress in "zero tariff", including temporary import repairs. According to the latest data from Haikou Customs, in the three years since the implementation of the "zero tariff" policy for raw and auxiliary materials in Hainan Free Trade Port, the customs has handled a total of "zero tariff" import customs clearance procedures for raw and auxiliary materials, with a cumulative import value of more than 8.3 billion yuan and tax reduction and exemption of more than 1.1 billion yuan, effectively reducing the production and operation costs of enterprises.
On December 1, 2020, the "zero tariff" policy for raw and auxiliary materials in Hainan Free Trade Port was implemented. The policy clarifies that before the island-wide customs closure operation, enterprises registered in the Hainan Free Trade Port and have independent legal personality will be exempted from import tariffs, import value-added tax and consumption tax for raw and auxiliary materials imported for their own use, production and processing activities in the "two-ended" mode of production and processing activities, or service trade in the "two-ended" mode. Enterprises do not need to submit guarantees, and only need to pay the import tariffs, import value-added tax and consumption tax of the corresponding raw and auxiliary materials when selling domestically, so as to meet the business needs of enterprises in the Hainan Free Trade Port and ease the financial pressure.
Xu Lingling, chief of the inspection and valuation management section of the Customs Department of Haikou Customs, introduced that the "zero tariff" policy of raw and auxiliary materials implements positive list management, with the first batch of 169 items on the list, and after adjusting 187 new commodities such as fresh durian, vinyl chloride, and aero engine parts at the end of 2021, the list of commodities has reached 356, including agricultural products such as coconut, resource products such as coal, chemicals such as vinyl chloride, and parts for aircraft and ship maintenance.
After the "zero tariff" policy for raw and auxiliary materials, the Hainan Free Trade Port has successively implemented the "zero tariff" policy for vehicles and yachts, and the "zero tariff" policy for self-use production equipment. On January 5 this year, Hainan issued the "Hainan Free Trade Port "Zero Tariff" Imported Vehicles and Yachts Management Measures (Trial)", proposing 50 specific measures.
The relevant person in charge of the Hainan Provincial Department of Transportation said that the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation recently issued a notice to adjust the "zero tariff" policy for vehicles and yachts in the Hainan Free Trade Port, and added 22 new commodities to the "zero tariff" import list. In the face of new situations and new changes, the document issued this time will further enhance the adaptability of the "zero tariff" import vehicle and yacht policy.
Editor: Zheng Jianlong
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition