On 26 Apr. 2024, the Chinese legislative body, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, adopted the “Tariff Law of the People’s Republic of China”(中華人民共和國關稅法, hereinafter the “Tariff Law”), which shall come into force on 1 Dec. 2024. On the same day, the “Import and Export Tariff Rules of the People’s Republic of China”(中華人民共和國進出口稅則) was issued and implemented simultaneously with the Tariff Law.
The Tariff Law was promulgated based on its predecessor “Regulations on Import and Export Duties of the People’s Republic of China”(中華人民共和國進出口關稅條例), a piece of administrative regulation, and recent practices in the field of tariffs. By changing its nature from an administrative regulation to a law, the Tariff Law establishes the basic tariff system at the legislative level.
The highlights of the Tariff Law are as follows.
- It clarifies the authority of the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council, and the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council to adjust tariff items and rates, as well as the basic system of tariff collection and management.
- The consignees of imported goods, the consignors of exported goods, and the carriers or recipients of entry articles are tariff payers. In response to the requirements of developing cross-border e-commerce, it clearly provides withholding agents of tariffs in relevant fields.
- It specifies items that are exempt from tariffs or subject to reduced tariffs, and authorizes the State Council to formulate special preferential tariff policies based on the needs of safeguarding national interests, promoting international exchanges, economic and social development, scientific and technological innovation, or due to emergencies, subject to record filing with the NPC Standing Committee.
Photo by 五玄土 ORIENTO on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
