SteelOrbis Shanghai
On March 10
China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs made an adjustment to the 2007 Catalogue of Goods subject to Automatic Import License Administration. The new adjustment aims at promoting the balanced development of
China's foreign trade and achieving trade expansion by simplifying import regulations. Following the adjustment, import licenses will be waived for 338 categories of goods, such as steel products, plastic materials and so on, effective as of April 1, 2007.
The Chinese trade surplus is now at a high level, showing a strong growing trend. The root cause of this is the low import level. Therefore, the Chinese authorities have deemed that the best way to prevent the trade surplus from widening is to encourage and expand imports.
The Chinese government has taken some measures to encourage imports - for example, the reduction in the export tax rebate. The adjustment to the present Catalogue of Goods subject to the Automatic Import License Administration is the latest official attempt to rebalance
China's foreign trade.
Nevertheless, through continuous improvement in equipment and technology, more and more Chinese steel varieties are able to replace imported products. Therefore, in spite of the simplified import administration, steel imports are expected to continue to move in a steady downward direction.