Australian Foreign Minister Payne announced in a statement on April 21 that the “Belt and Road” memorandum and framework agreement signed by China and Victoria, Australia had been cancelled by the federal government of that country . Payne claimed that "this agreement is not in line with Australia's foreign policy."

Due to the unclear dispute over compensation for the blockage of the Suez Canal, the Egyptian court has ordered the seizure of Ever Given, a container captain of Evergreen Shipping. The Suez Canal Authority has claimed a compensation of 900 million US dollars. , The insurance company and the Suez Canal Authority have yet to negotiate.

Earlier, Evergreen proposed the idea of unloading the cargo first. According to the latest statement from the Suez Canal Authority, the proposal was rejected. The 18,300 containers stranded on the ship have not yet confirmed the delivery date. Of the 3.5 billion US dollars worth of goods, 80% come from Chinese export companies.

The EU notified on April 20 that it continues to temporarily exempt imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from tariffs and value-added tax, and the validity period will be extended from April 30 to December 31 this year.

At present, in addition to exempting imported medical equipment and personal protective equipment from tariffs and value-added tax, the EU decided in December last year to reduce or exempt value-added tax on new crown vaccines, virus detection kits and related services; on the 12th of this month, the EU decided to further expand the scope of tax incentives. It is proposed that important goods and services distributed by the EU during the epidemic be exempted from value-added tax . If the relevant proposal is successfully approved, the tax exemption period will start from January 1 this year.

*The EU’s "Medical Device Regulations (MDR)" will be enforced on May 26, 2021. For relevant guidance PDF files, please pay attention to the "Focus Vision" official account and reply to "Medical Devices" to obtain.

A month ago, the United States issued an announcement that the Biden administration extended tariff exemptions for approximately 99 medical products from China to September 30 this year to help respond to the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the United States. This list covers everything from surgical masks and gloves to blood pressure cuffs and X-ray machines.

Although the tuyere of anti-epidemic supplies has weakened, it has not yet passed.

From April 1st, Egypt will conduct a trial operation to manage the export enterprises to Egypt through the cargo information forecast system, and it will be formally implemented from July 1st.

 The "Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) declaration" stipulates that for all imported goods, the consignee must first predict the cargo information in the local system to obtain the ACI Number and provide it to the shipper. This (ACI) Number is required to be displayed in On the bill of lading and manifest.

According to the new Egyptian regulations, importers must report the arrival of the goods in advance before loading at the port of departure and wait for the approval of the relevant authorities. Once the customs approval (cargo information declaration form) is received, the importer is responsible for providing ACID to the exporter so that they can update all documents related to the shipment, including the bill of lading.

Please pay attention to relevant policy changes in time. For details, please refer to the official website of the Egyptian National Foreign Trade Facilitation Single Window NAFEZA.

• Arabic:

https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/

• English:

https://www.nafeza.gov.eg/en/

According to a South African media report on April 14th local time, South Africa announced the new lamp usage specifications. From now until April 30th, South African citizens can put forward their opinions on the relevant regulations. According to the South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi), the specification aims to improve the safety, environmental protection and energy saving of lamps used in South Africa by eliminating inefficient and environmentally harmful lighting products.

After the specification is passed, lighting products that do not meet the specifications will be eliminated from the market. At present, South Africa widely uses old and outdated lighting technology, and the energy efficiency of this technology is much lower than that of modern lighting products (such as LED). This may be a great opportunity for Chinese LED products to enter the South African market.

For those who need the relevant documents of the new lamps and lanterns, please follow the official account "Focus Vision" and reply to "South Africa" to obtain.

On April 19, Japan’s Ministry of Finance released data showing that in March, Japan’s export value increased by 16.1% year-on-year, setting a new high since December 2017. According to data, Japan’s exports to China increased significantly in March, increasing by 37.2% year-on-year to 1.6344 trillion yen, which is an increase for 9 consecutive months. Among them, industrial raw materials such as plastics and non-ferrous metals have played a boosting role. Components occupy a major position.

According to the March machine tool orders data released by the Japan Work Machinery Industry Association on April 20, orders for China increased by 2.3 times compared with the same period last year , reaching 37.3 billion yen, a new high since November 2017. Japanese machine tool exports to North America increased by 32% in March, European orders increased by 95%, and Korean orders increased by 62%. Japan's total machine tool orders in March increased by 65.1% to 127.8 billion yen, a record high since March 2019. Due to increased production of pure electric vehicles (EV) and strong investment in infrastructure, the manufacturing industry is enthusiastic about equipment investment.

According to statistics from the Vietnam General Administration of Statistics, Vietnam’s mobile phone production reached 54.4 million units in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period in 2020; TV production reached 4.45 million units, an increase of 30.9% compared to the same period in 2020.

In the first quarter of 2021, Vietnam’s exports of mobile phones and electronic components reached US$14.1 billion, a growth of 9.3% compared with the same period in 2020, accounting for 18.2% of Vietnam’s total exports. Electronic products, computers and components reached US$12 billion, an increase of 31.3% compared with the same period in 2020. Most of the above-mentioned products are produced and exported by foreign-funded enterprises. Among them, the export volume of mobile phones and components produced by foreign-funded enterprises accounted for 99.1%; the export of electronic products, computers and components produced by foreign-funded enterprises accounted for 98%.

At present, the electronics industry accounts for 17.8% of Vietnam’s industrial production. The main products are electronic components, smart phones, smart phone components, televisions, and computers. It is estimated that in the future, the industry's enjoyment of CPTPP, EVFTA and UKVFTA will drive the sustainable development of mobile phones, electronic products and components in Vietnam.

After the Brazilian real depreciated by nearly 30% last year, it has depreciated by nearly 7% since 2021, resulting in a significant increase in the import costs of raw materials and components for several industries in Brazil. In the consumer electronics field, where most of the components depend on imports, exchange rate pressure is obvious. According to the Brazilian Consumer Price Index (IPCA), consumer prices for television, audio equipment and computer products have risen by nearly 23% in the past 12 months , and the general inflation rate has risen by 6.1%.

Brazil's industry and retail industry have felt the imbalance between supply and demand since last year. In 2020, the prices of raw materials and packaging have risen by 30% to 40%. The Brazilian consumer goods industry believes that the continuous increase in raw material costs is the biggest challenge this year.