Let Chinese People Enjoy ＂Global Good Goods＂ and the World Enjoy ＂China Dividend＂ —— Interpretation of China’s adjustment of import tariffs on some commodities in 2020

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 23rd Title: Let Chinese People Enjoy "Global Good Goods" and the World Enjoy "China Dividend" —— Interpretation of China’s adjustment of import tariffs on some commodities in 2020.

Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Cheng, Liu Hongxia

With the approval of the State Council, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council recently issued a notice to adjust the import tariffs of some commodities from January 1, 2020.

Experts and industry insiders said that the adjustment measures are conducive to reducing import costs, further meeting the needs of people’s lives and enterprises’ production, promoting high-quality trade development and opening to the outside world at a higher level, and better sharing the "China dividend" with the world and a win-win future.

Adjust the provisional tax rate of some consumer goods to better meet the needs of people’s lives

In recent years, the huge potential of China market has been continuously released, and the demand for consumption upgrading has been increasing. Effective use of tariff leverage is conducive to expanding imports and consumption, better enabling people to enjoy "global good goods" and better meeting people’s needs for a better life.

The notice shows that from January 1, 2020, China will implement a provisional import tax rate lower than the most-favored-nation tax rate for more than 850 commodities.

The reporter checked the attached table of the notice and found that many of the adjusted imported goods are domestic consumer goods that are relatively scarce or have foreign characteristics. For example, increase or decrease the provisional import tax rate of frozen pork, frozen avocado, non-frozen orange juice and other commodities.

"Temporarily lowering the import tariff on frozen pork from 12% to 8% will help increase pork imports and help meet the domestic market demand." Li Jinghui, Deputy Secretary-General of China Animal Husbandry Association, said that the provisional import tax rate has a certain implementation period and is generally adjusted annually, which is helpful for tracking and observing the domestic pig market and adjusting policies in time according to market supply and demand.

It is one of the major concerns of the people that "getting medical treatment for illness". In order to reduce the cost of drugs and promote the production of new drugs, the notice clearly stipulates that zero tariffs will be imposed on alkaloid drugs used to treat asthma and raw materials used to produce new diabetes drugs.

"It can be seen that many of the goods with reduced tariff rates are closely related to the daily life of the people, which can better meet the needs of the domestic consumer market and better meet the people’s yearning for a better life." Yang Zhiyong, vice president of the Institute of Finance and Economics of China Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Advanced technology, equipment and spare parts welcome tax reduction to promote the development of high-tech industries

According to the notice, this time, the temporary import tax rate will be increased or decreased for products such as semiconductor inspection sorting and braiding machine, high-pressure turbine clearance control valve, hydraulic torque converter and aluminum valve core for automatic transmission, ferroniobium, multi-element integrated circuit memory, large-axis film raw materials, dispersion liquid for photoresist, culture medium, etc.

Innovation-driven and reform and opening up are two wheels to comprehensively improve the overall competitiveness of the economy. According to industry insiders, the adjustment of the provisional import tax rate for some advanced technologies, equipment and spare parts will help promote the development of domestic high-tech industries such as integrated circuits, aerospace, automobiles, communications, electronics and biology, and push the economy towards high-quality development.

"For example, the hydraulic torque converter and aluminum valve core for the automatic transmission adjusted this time are the core components in the automatic transmission of automobiles." Wu Songquan, chief expert of China Automobile Technology and Research Center, said that under the current situation of China’s automobile manufacturing industry, reducing the tariffs on these two products will help reduce the procurement costs of domestic independent brand automobile enterprises and enhance the competitiveness of independent brand automobiles.

In addition, the notice said that starting from July 1, 2020, China will also implement the fifth step of reducing the MFN tax rate of 176 information technology products, and at the same time, adjust the provisional import tax rate of some of them accordingly.

"Reducing the tax rate in accordance with the information technology agreement this time can promote the import of related commodities, which is not only conducive to the development of information technology in China, but also promotes the domestic industry and economic development; It is also conducive to global high-tech development and provides assistance for economic globalization. " Yang Zhiyong said.

Reduce some agreed tax rates and promote a higher level of opening up.

The Central Economic Work Conference held a few days ago put forward that "opening up to the outside world should continue in a broader, broader and deeper direction". According to industry insiders, promoting economic and trade cooperation between regions and countries is a starting point for opening up to a higher level.

According to the notice, according to the free trade agreement or preferential trade arrangement signed between China and relevant countries or regions, in 2020, China will continue to implement the agreed tax rate on some commodities originating in 23 countries or regions. Among them, the free trade agreements between China and New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Iceland, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Georgia, Chile and Pakistan and the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement have been further reduced.

"Free trade agreements or preferential trade arrangements are often mutual. While we reduce the import tariff rate, relevant countries often have corresponding measures, which will have a positive impact on import and export trade. " Yang Zhiyong said that at the same time, these tariff adjustments will also play a positive role in promoting the "Belt and Road" construction, building a high-standard free trade zone network and promoting a higher level of opening up.

"At present, the practice of a few countries to use tariffs to promote trade protectionism is against the trend of globalization." Yang Zhiyong said that China has proved by practical actions that the door to opening will be wider and wider, and it is willing to share the "China dividend" with the world and win a better future.