China raises tire& rubber export rebate

China’s finance ministry said on October 25 that it will adjust tax rebates on a wide range of export products including 22 units of tire production from Nov. 1.

Rebates on aircraft tires, lubricants and some metal products, including refined copper wire and rolled refined copper plates, sheets and strips, will be increased to 13 percent.

Rebates on rubber, such as natural rubber, TSNR, SBR etc., will be lifted to 10 percent.  

Rebates on bamboo flooring, plastic products and safety glass will be increased to 16 percent, while that for some farm produce, bricks and tiles and glass fibers will climb to 10 percent, but that for soybeans will be cancelled, per the document.

The rebate for other exports will rise to 16, 10 and 6 percent, respectively, from their former 15, 9 and 5 percent.

China's Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation will adjust the export tax rebate for 1,172 product categories from the first day of next month to help foreign trade firms get more from the tax rebate and better prepare against external risks, a notice signed on Oct. 22 and released on Oct.25 by the two regulators said.

This is the second time the Chinese government has raised the export tax rebate for an array of products. The first time, for electromechanical, cultural and other products, was in September.

Foreign trade firms are caught up in the complicated current conditions of international trade. The Chinese government's move to adjust the export tax rebate will reduce the costs to these companies and promote the global competitiveness of their products, Wang Weiqing, a member of the China International Taxation Research Institute, told Yicai Global.

The export tax rebate, seen as a legal measure to facilitate trade, is widely used by various countries, but is not classed as a subsidy. Other countries generally have no set export tax rebates, Shi Zhengwen, the director of the tax law research center at China University of Political Science and Law, explained to Yicai Global.

Although it is possible to realize 'zero tax' for some exports, the rebate for most products is still lower than the tax rate, Shi added.