عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Offers Freight Brokerage Services at Airports to Facilitate Trade

Cargo services at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Cargo services at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Offers Freight Brokerage Services at Airports to Facilitate Trade

Cargo services at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Cargo services at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi government allowed freight brokers to provide services at airports to increase competitiveness and offer more options, which contributes to reducing import and export costs.

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the National Transport and Logistics Strategy in 2021, which aims to position the Kingdom as a global logistics hub connecting three continents. It also seeks to improve all transport services, promote sustainable economic development, and competitiveness adequate to the Vision 2030

Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) called on shipping agents to benefit from the customs services provided at the airports, most notably the availability of data submission, the issuance of delivery permissions, and the ability to split incoming shipments.

The authority said that, based on the services provided, the freight broker would be responsible before the customers until the shipment arrives, allowing the customer to deal with only one party.

The agent is the link in the global supply chain process, said the authority, stressing that the services it shall provide customers with constitute an opportunity to compete with the prices offered by transport companies and other agents.

This process would present the customer with more options and contribute to reducing import and export costs.

- Increasing operations efficiency

Recently, the authority allowed freight brokerage companies to obtain a license to practice customs clearance and enable them to activate their role in facilitating trade. It would also raise the efficiency of operations and logistics.

Through this step, ZATCA aims to enable freight brokers to provide distinguished services that align with its objectives towards boosting Saudi position as a global logistics platform by facilitating and developing procedures.

It would help achieve flexibility in the customs clearance process in cooperation and coordination with all relevant authorities.

- National strategy

The Saudi strategy focuses on developing infrastructure, launching several platforms and logistical areas, implementing advanced operating systems, and strengthening effective partnerships between the public and private sectors.

One of the strategy’s main objectives is to increase the contribution of the transport and logistics sector to the gross domestic product from six to ten percent by leading the industry to support the national economy, enable business growth, expand investments, and increase the annual non-oil revenues to $13 billion in 2030.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Trump Exempts Mexico Goods from Tariffs for a Month, but Doesn’t Mention Canada

Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)
Construction workers are seen on the site of a new development in Long Beach, California, March 5, 2025. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely.

"After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd."

Earlier on Thursday, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the one-month reprieve on hefty tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada that has been granted to automotive products is likely to be extended to all products that comply with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.

Lutnick told CNBC he expected Trump to announce that extension on Thursday, a day after exempting automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he slapped on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier in the week.

Trump "is going to decide this today," Lutnick said, adding "it's likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services."

"So if you think about it this way, if you lived under Donald Trump's US-Mexico-Canada agreement, you will get a reprieve from these tariffs now. If you chose to go outside of that, you did so at your own risk, and today is when that reckoning comes," he said.

Nonetheless, Trump's social media post made no mention of a reprieve for Canada, the other party to the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Lutnick said his "off the cuff" estimate was that more than 50% of the goods imported from the two US neighbors - also its largest two trading partners - were compliant with the USMCA deal that Trump negotiated during his first term as president.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lutnick's comments "promising" in remarks to reporters in Canada.

"That aligns with some of the conversations that we have been having with administration officials, but I'm going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response and look at the details of it," Trudeau said. "But it is a promising sign. But I will highlight that it means that the tariffs remain in place, and therefore our response will remain in place."

Lutnick emphasized that the reprieve would only last until April 2, when he said the administration plans to move ahead with reciprocal tariffs under which the US will impose levies that match those imposed by trading partners.

In the meantime, he said, the current hiatus is about getting fentanyl deaths down, which is the initial justification Trump used for the tariffs on Mexico and Canada and levies on Chinese goods that have now risen to 20%.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Lutnick said. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Indeed, Trudeau is expecting the US and Canada to remain in a trade war.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.