Chinese and Japanese officials this week held the second meeting of the China-Japan Export Control Dialogue Mechanism, where they discussed “issues of concern in the field of export control,” according to unofficial translations from China’s Commerce Ministry and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Officials at the Shanghai meeting also held a question-and-answer session with Japanese and Chinese companies. The two nations “agreed to continue to maintain close communication, deepen the understanding of each other's export control systems, improve the transparency of export control measures, and ensure that normal trade is not hindered,” China said.
China has lifted trade restrictions on five Australian meat processing facilities, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said May 30. Those restrictions were among several “trade impediments” China has imposed against Australia in recent years (see 2404030026 and 2005130013), the ministry said, adding that Beijing has now lifted import restrictions on eight beef processing facilities, while two facilities still face suspensions. “We continue to press China to remove the remaining trade impediments, including for Australia's rock lobster industry,” Australia said.
China will place export controls starting June 1 on various military and dual-use equipment, software and technology, including items used in the aerospace and shipbuilding industries, along with “ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers,” the country’s commerce Ministry said May 30, according to an unofficial translation.
The U.S. and other countries imposing sanctions and export controls on Russia need a more “aggressive” plan to cripple Moscow’s war effort, a group of researchers and economists said, including through tighter financial restrictions, new bans on Russian commodities and broader export controls. They also said American lawyers should have to follow strict due diligence and reporting rules when taking on clients with ties to Russia, and said the price cap on Russian oil should be lowered.
Several provisions relating to sanctions and export controls are included in the Senate version of the FY 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said in a bill summary released last week.
The EU and Australia will implement recent World Trade Organization panel rulings that found the nations lost in their respective disputes, the countries said during the May 24 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. The EU dispute involved the bloc's measures on palm oil and biofuels from Malaysia, while Australia's dispute focused on Australian antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese imports.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China asked DOJ last week to investigate the Drone Advocacy Alliance for illegally lobbying on behalf of, and promoting the “interests of,” sanctioned Chinese drone company DJI, which also is on the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said the alliance is “funded and maintained” by DJI, and may be violating filing requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
U.S. lawmakers should finish pending legislation to restrict outbound investment to China so it doesn't leave the job of controlling such capital flows solely to the executive branch, a congressionally mandated commission heard last week.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission should push Congress to devote more funding to the Bureau of Industry and Security, Commissioner Michael Kuiken said during a commission hearing last week.
The U.S. government should combine its various export control and sanctions lists into two distinct lists, which could allow the government to better implement trade restrictions and improve industry compliance, a congressional commission heard this week. The commission also discussed whether U.S. export control agencies should have to release more information about their licensing decisions, with one witness saying more transparency would increase business certainty, while another said it would discourage candor between the government and exporters.