TradeLane

First I would like to say ‘Hello!’ to all of the TradeLane readers, this is my first post here but will certainly not be the last. I joined Tradewin as Principal in Asia just recently and am really excited to be here!

When I travel to the US or the EU I am often asked to provide some thoughts on managing trade compliance in Asia. This is a bit difficult thing to do because there are of course an awful lot of countries in Asia (anywhere between 25-75 depending on what you count as ‘Asia’). And of course each country has its own unique set of trade regulations and practices that may or may not be similar to what exist elsewhere in the region or in the world.  Still, if we limit ‘Asia’ to the larger trading countries (say, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam), and exclude India, there are some general points that can be made that describe the environment as we experience it.

China has been included in the Canadian General Preferential Tariff (GPT) treatment since its inception in 1974. GPT was put in place to allow Canadian importers access to products from developing countries at a reduced duty rate to help stimulate the developing country’s economy. Wow!! I would say it worked for China.

A little history lesson. Back in 1974 we were entertained by best picture Oscar winner The Sting. “The Way We Were” was the number one song on the top 100. “The Streak” was number eight. The what? Don’t ask. The best-selling North American car was the Ford Pinto leading the way with explosive sales. China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was about 45 billion.