With the approval of the State Council, the “2021 Tariff Adjustment Plan” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”) will be implemented from January 1, 2021. The 2021 tariff adjustment plan focuses on promoting high-quality development, supporting domestic and international dual cycles, and promoting innovative development, optimization and upgrading of the real economy. The “Plan” has the following adjustments to the Import tariffs of some commodities:
(1) Most-favored-nation tax rate and provisional import tax rate.
Temporary import tax rates will be implemented for 883 commodities (excluding tariff quota commodities) from January 1, 2021, of which from July 2021 Starting from March 1, 874 items of goods with temporary import tax rates will be implemented, and 9 items of temporary import tax rates for information technology products will be cancelled.
First, support import substitution. In order to improve the level of independence in the equipment manufacturing industry, import tariffs on some commodities will be increased.
The second is to reduce import tariffs on high-tech equipment and parts that are urgently needed in the country, domestic resource products that are in short supply, and some high-quality raw materials.
The third is to increase support for ecological and environmental protection and adjust import tariffs on some commodities.
(2) Tariff quota rate.
Continue to implement tariff quota management for eight categories of commodities including wheat, and reduce the temporary import tax rate for cotton outside the quota. Calculated based on the average price of mainstream imported cotton, the The quasi-tax rate has been reduced from 13.7% to about 10.7%.
(3) Agreed tax rate.
According to the free trade agreements or preferential trade arrangements signed by our country with relevant countries or regions, in 2021 our country will enter into 16 agreements, 27 countries or Regions implement agreed tax rates. Among them, starting from January 1, 2021, the agreement tax rates for my country’s bilateral trade agreements with New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Switzerland, and Iceland, as well as the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, will be further reduced. Some imported goods originating in Mongolia will be subject to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement tax rate from January 1, 2021, and follow the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement rules of origin (General Administration of Customs Announcement [2018] No. 69). Starting from July 1, 2021, in accordance with the provisions of the bilateral trade agreement between my country and Switzerland and the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, the relevant agreement tax rates will be further reduced. At the same time, the free trade agreement between my country and Mauritius will come into effect on January 1, 2021. When the MFN tax rate is lower than or equal to the agreement rate, if there is a provision in the agreement, the provisions of the relevant agreement shall apply; if there is no provision in the agreement, the lower one shall apply.
(4) Preferential tax rate.
Preferential tax rates will continue to be implemented in 2021 for other least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and completed the exchange of letters. The scope of applicable commodities and tax rates will remain unchanged.
After adjustment, the 2021 tax code includes a total of 8,580 8-digit tax items. Among them, 58 were added, 27 were deleted, and 44 tax item names were modified. </p
