BIZCHINA> Impacts
|
BIZCHINA> Impacts
|
|
China exporters rush to beat rebate cuts
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-27 10:06 Chinese exporters are scrambling to beat the introduction of cuts in export tax rebates, suggesting the potential for a bumper trade surplus for June. To help reduce the surplus, the government said last week it would slash the refund of value added tax on about 37 percent of its export categories on July 1. Rebates will be scrapped on 553 products and cut by 5-13 percentage points on another 2,268 lines, including steel, toys, plastic and rubber products and apparel. Freight forwarders and trading companies said the announcement, and expectations of further rule changes to deter exports, had spurred manufacturers to bring forward shipments. Shipping charges on some lines were soaring, they said. Li Wentao, a manager at BCOF International Trading Co. Ltd., aBeijingfirm that trades in manufactured products, said his company was trying to get as many goods as possible through customs before the new rates took effect. "There just aren't enough ships," said Li. Zhang Yunfei, a manager at Ningbo Haitian International Trade and Forwarder Co. Ltd., added: "Exporters are trying like mad to make shipments because of the export rebate policy." Zhang, whose company mainly serves exporters in the Yangtze River Delta, said shipping charges between China and the Middle East had tripled in the past six months to 2,800 yuan ($370) per standard twenty foot equivalent (TEU) container. The potential for tax changes to skew China's trade data was underlined in February. Exports leaped 51.7 percent from a year earlier as firms, expecting rebate cuts, brought shipments forward. The surplus for the month reached $23.8 billion, confounding expectations, only to fall back to $6.9 billion in March. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
|
