Page 13 - Port of Hamburg Magazine 03.2019

in the form of a customs quota, may be granted. Within the EU, these enable companies to import goods with customs duty reduced, or even com- pletely duty-free. Most product groups qualifying for customs quotas consist of agricultural products such as grain – barley, durum wheat or millet – or cassava starch, but also include various chemical products like fertilizers and dyes, as well as building materials, bicycle frames and technical equipment including electric motors and fibre-optical cable.
With countries such as the USA, by contrast, puni- tive tariffs will be imposed on steel and aluminium products, peanut butter and motor-cycles. For in- stance, duty on the popular Harley Davidson is be- ing raised by 25 percent. The results of the political conflict are already noticeable for all companies op- erating internationally.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHANCES
To be able to continue trading rationally, companies must search for new opportunities and transform risks into chances. That can also result in the open- ing up of new markets and gaining new contractual partners. For decades, the continent of Africa has been a strategic investment and business environ- ment for the EU. Since September 2017, firms have been permitted to apply the advantages of the CE- TA Trading Agreement.
It is especially important that exports to Canada should be boosted thanks to the abolition of cus- toms duties. Other development possibilities in- clude simplifications in the food and beverage sec- tor. The free trade agreement between the EU and Japan – the EPA Economic Partnership Agreement – or JEFTA – Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement – has beendescribedbyJapan’sPrimeMinisterShinzo¯ Abe as ‘the birth of the world’s largest economic zone’. The pact enables many goods to be imported duty-free. For others such as fishery or automotive industry products, plans for abolition are being pur- sued.
Negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries – Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – have been under way since 1999. Following assent from all EU member states and also the European Parlia- ment, this will lead to creation of the world’s larg- est free trade area. The pact provides for abolition of customs duties on imports of fruit, beverages and coffee from South America, as well as consid- erable simplifications in importing meat – mainly beef – and sugar.
What becomes more complicated, on the one hand, is on the other compensated for by new trade agreements. The challenge is to find your bearings with your own business in the new scenario.
HAMBURG’S MARKETS ■
CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
Port of Hamburg Magazine | September 2019 | 13
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