A U.S. decoupling from China would be a mistake, China’s U.S. ambassador said, criticizing what he called the U.S.’s alarmist foreign policy and its “wrong rationale” for starting a trade war with China. Ambassador Cui Tiankai said decoupling may not even be possible because of the “inseparable links” between the two countries. “And considering China’s advantages in cost, market and supply chain and its growing edge in innovation, to decouple from China is to decouple from opportunities,” Cui said, speaking Sept. 17 in New York.
Exports to China
Legislative discussions continue for how to shape legislation in order to regain control of trade policy from the Trump administration as the legislative branch is further pushed to the sidelines, a former senior U.S. trade negotiator said. Barbara Weisel, former assistant U.S. trade representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said Congress is beginning to question how it can retake its constitutionally granted powers over trade, which have been overtaken by the Trump administration and its preference for bilateral negotiations. “One has to believe there are many members of Congress now who are debating and quietly discussing how they are going to adjust this issue,” Weisel said during a Sept. 17 event at the Brookings Institution in Washington, focused on the "America First" trade policy with regard to Japan and Taiwan. “And I think it’s about time.”
China is planning to strengthen its export controls through a new law that may be implemented this year, according to a Sept. 16 Lexology post from AnJie Law Firm.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 18 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
In the Sept. 18 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
China is amending measures surrounding its food safety inspections regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a Sept. 17 report. Random food safety inspections will be defined as "regulatory, risk-related or evaluatory as is deemed appropriate" given "varying priorities accorded individual inspections," HKTDC said. The revised provisions also clarify that all impromptu inspections must be selected randomly, revise China’s re-inspection procedures and more. The changes take effect Oct. 1.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 9-13 in case they were missed.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue said he doesn't believe that the Trump administration will declare victory if Chinese buyers return to buying pork, soybeans and corn. "I don't think it will be an agreement of any type until it's a matter of substance," he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released on Sept. 13 a report on China’s second round of tariff exclusions, including a list of eligible products, eligible applicants, how to apply for exemptions and their scope of eligibility. The report includes translations of the more than 400 tariff lines of U.S. agricultural goods that are eligible for exemption. Applications for exclusions are being accepted by China's Ministry of Finance through Oct. 18, 2019.
A top Treasury Department official criticized Britain's decision to release an Iranian oil tanker and defended the U.S.’s maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran, saying the U.S. will not ease Iran sanctions ahead of a potential meeting between the two countries. Gibraltar's decision to release the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, was an “expensive mistake,” said Marshall Billingslea, Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing. Gibraltar seized the ship in July after suspecting it of transporting oil to Syria, but later released the tanker after Iran promised it would not ship oil to Syria, which would violate international sanctions. Despite the promises, the ship delivered oil to Syria (see 1909110042).