Norway considers cruise tax
Norway is moving toward authorizing a tax on cruise ships as a part of a larger effort to introduce a tourism tax, according to The Local Norway.
Though the legislation previously targeted hotels, campsites and short-term rentals, the country's ruling Labour Party now intends to include cruises and campervans in the tax, the English-language outlet reported.
The Labour Party has not yet determined a desired tax rate, and the Centre Party is not on board with the change, according to the report.
The tax would not apply nationwide but would rather be one that municipalities could opt into.
A version of the bill submitted last month would have set the rate at 3% for overnight stays, according to Forbes.
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'If it comes to the permanent magnets which are used clearly for civilian production, because you need them from washing machines to cars to any home appliance we have most probably at home all of us, this is extremely disruptive for the industry,' Sefcovic said. On Wednesday, a European automobile trade group similarly raised concerns over the 'significant disruption' in the European automotive supply chain posed by China's rare earth restrictions. 'China's export restrictions are already shutting down production in Europe's supplier sector,' said Benjamin Krieger, secretary general of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), in a statement. Under China's new controls, exporters of rare earths and magnets are required to apply for a license for each shipment and provide supporting documentation to verify the intended end use of these materials. Since April, Chinese authorities have only approved about one-quarter of the hundreds of export license applications submitted, according to CLEPA. Moreover, the application process has been opaque and inconsistent across provinces, with some licenses denied on procedural grounds and others requiring disclosure of sensitive information, including intellectual property, CLEPA said. German carmaker Volkswagen has previously told CNN that its suppliers have been granted 'a limited number of export licenses.' China's customs data showed that shipments of rare earth magnets to Germany halved from March to April, the month the restrictions were put in place. At their meeting on Tuesday, Sefcovic and Wang compared data on licenses granted, and found their respective figures did not match, Sefcovic said. The two sides will talk 'relatively soon' once data is clarified, he added. 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'However, the bigger picture remains, which is that approvals are going much slower than industry would like or require – there are apparently only a small handful of Chinese officials working their way through more than a thousand applications,' the source said. 'The implication (is) that it is clearly not a priority for China to speed this up.' A long-time rare earths trader in the US said his company is still waiting for Beijing to approve shipment requests filed by its Chinese suppliers seven weeks ago. One of the application documents asked for a photo of the end user's manufacturing facility, according to the rare earth trader, who requested anonymity to speak openly about the process. 'I don't know anyone who would be willing to do that. That's where I get the biggest pushback,' he said, referring to his customers, who are mostly end users – in both civilian and defense sectors. 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Shipments of rare earth magnets to the US plunged 60% from March to April, according to Chinese customs data. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Thursday the country's export controls are 'in line with common international practices, non-discriminatory and not targeted at specific countries.' CNN's Fred He contributed reporting.
