Singapore receives many tourists every year and the Singapore government has stressed the importance of visitors enjoying a good shopping experience as well as a hassle-free GST refund claim process.
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States 2018 Basic Edition (HTS; USITC Pub. No. 4750) was published by the US International Trade Commission. It took effect on January 1, 2018. This edition incorporates all changes to the HTS that took effect after the January 2017 printed edition was published through Presidential Proclamation 9687 of [December 22, 2017]: To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and for Other Purposes (82 Fed. Reg. 61413), effective January 1, 2018, and other dates specified therein. It is available either as a full document download, or a chapter-by-chapter download.
On December 28, 2017, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense (DoD) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket DARS-2017—0017] amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate revised thresholds for application of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative. The thresholds are effective January 1, 2018. The thresholds are shown below:
At the recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC“) Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam, the 11 remaining countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP11“) took a significant step forward to finalize a new agreement now referred to as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP“). Media reports were mixed as some outlets reported that there was an agreement in principle while others reported that Canada was not ready to sign on. However, the end result is an impressive draft agreement in principle on most of the existing terms with some key exceptions and a few remaining issues from Canada’s perspective. To its credit, Japan has been leading the effort to move forward with the CPTPP in hopes of the United States rejoining the agreement at some point in the future.
On 11 November 2017, In the margins of the APEC meetings in Da Nang, Vietnam, the TPP ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, agreed to the following statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
On 7 November 2017, Singapore Customs issued Circular 14/2017 which announces a prohibition from 8 November 2017, of all commercially traded goods that are imported, exported, transhipped or brought in transit from or to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (N. Korea) through Singapore.
On 9 November 2017, Singapore Customs issued Circular 15/2017 announcing that Singapore, together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam, will transit into the live operation of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) for the electronic exchange of Form D under the ATIGA on 1 Jan 2018.
On September 29, 2017, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a request for comments and meeting notice [Docket No. USTR–2017–0021] for a proposed meeting between the United States and Singapore on implementation of Chapter 18 (Environment) of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA). USTR invites interested organizations and members of the public to attend the public session, and to submit in advance written comments or suggestions…
The Turkey-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (TRSFTA) will enter into force on 1 October 2017. The TRSFTA consists of 18 numbered chapters and a separate Rules of Origin Protocol with annexes.
On August 14, 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a general notice [CBP Dec. No. 17-09] that announces that CBP is expanding eligibility for Global Entry to include citizens of the Republic of Colombia, citizens of the Republic of Singapore, and citizens of Switzerland.