China's Foreign Ministry this week objected to the Netherlands' takeover of Chinese-owned semiconductor firm Nexperia, saying China "opposes overstretching the concept of national security and discriminatory moves against companies in certain countries." According to an unofficial translation, a ministry spokesperson said during an Oct. 15 press conference that "the relevant country should abide by market principles and refrain from politicizing trade issues. China is firmly resolved in safeguarding its legitimate and lawful rights and interests."

China's customs agency recently updated its voluntary disclosure policies for reporting certain customs violations, according to an unofficial translation.

Japan recently updated its foreign end-user list, which includes a list of entities that may have ties to weapons of mass destruction and may be subject to extra export license requirements. The new list, effective Oct. 9, includes 87 additional organizations from 15 countries and regions, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Sept. 29, according to an unofficial translation.

China's Ministry of Commerce this week criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's new rule that introduced a 50% ownership threshold rule for the Entity List and Military End-User List (see 2509290017), saying the measure is "extremely egregious," "severely" damages the rights of affected companies and undermines global supply chains.

China is launching a foreign-trade barrier probe on Mexico after the latter country announced plans this month to increase tariffs from certain non-free-trade-agreement countries, including a decision that will reportedly raise tariffs on Chinese cars from 20% to 50%. The investigation also will look into Mexico's duty increases for imports of Chinese textiles, clothing, plastics, steel, home appliances, aluminum, toys, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycles and glass.

China on Sept. 25 added three U.S. companies to its Unreliable Entity List for arms sales to Taiwan and three others to its Export Control List because they “endanger” Chinese national security, the Ministry of Commerce said.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Sept. 23 announced its plans to update export controls under its special chemicals, organisms, materials, equipment and technologies (SCOMET) scheme to reflect recent changes made by multilateral export control regimes. The changes include new or revised controls for certain categories of emerging technologies under Category 7, including systems, equipment and components; test, inspection and production equipment; materials; software; and technology. The major changes begin on Page 182 of the updated SCOMET list. India said they will take effect 30 days after Sept. 23.

Taiwan is probing the business credentials of a Taiwanese company added to the Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List earlier this month (see 2509120077), Taiwan's International Trade Administration said, according to an unofficial translation. The company, Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics, is a "representative office of a Hong Kong company in Taiwan," and an "investigation revealed that the representative office does not possess import and export qualifications," Taiwan said. "The Ministry of Economic Affairs will further verify whether the representative office's actual operations are consistent with its original application."

Beijing criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision last week to add a range of Chinese entities to the Entity List (see 2509120077), saying the U.S. has "generalized national security and abused export controls to impose sanctions on numerous Chinese entities in sectors such as semiconductors, biotechnology, aerospace, and trade and logistics."

Beijing is investigating whether U.S. chip policies -- including export controls, tariffs and other trade restrictions -- are discriminating against China’s semiconductor sector by suppressing its firms from developing advanced technologies. China also launched an antidumping investigation on imports of certain U.S. analog chips.