The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act, a follow-up bill to OSRA from original co-sponsors Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., passed 58-1 out of the House Transportation Committee May 23.
Exports to China
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Japan's export control measures on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing technology are an abuse of export control measures and departure from international trade rules, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry on May 23 urged Japan to immediately drop the controls, which it says are hindering the normal development of each country's semiconductor industry. Japan imposed the restrictions in late March, aligning with elements of U.S. restrictions on China (see 2303310031). The controls cover six categories of equipment used in chip manufacturing, including cleaning, deposition, lithography and etching.
A limited trade deal announced between the U.S. and Taiwan (see 2305190074) angered the Chinese government. When asked about the deal at a regular press conference in Beijing, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that signing a deal with Taiwan "implies sovereignty." He added: "The U.S. move gravely violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and contravenes the U.S.’s own commitment of maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. China deplores and strongly opposes this move."
China's General Administration of Customs and Macau Customs inked a mutual recognition agreement, which comes into effect June 1, China's customs agency announced, according to an unofficial translation. Under the accord, customs agencies of mainland China and Macau will recognize each party's authorized economic operator (AEO) system and allow designated AEOs to clear customs with ease. Both parties will also provide a host of customs clearance facilitation services for the AEO enterprises, the customs administration said.
The U.S. ended the Group of 7 summit in Japan with an agreement by member countries to explore new restrictions on outbound investments into China and a strategy to de-risk with regard to certain aspects of the country’s economy, a result President Joe Biden said “showcased the unity of purpose” of the G-7 leaders toward Beijing. The countries also emphasized the importance of multilateral export controls, agreeing to increase cooperation on restrictions over dual-use technologies.
China this week banned certain Chinese companies from purchasing products from U.S. semiconductor company Micron, saying they are a national security risk and shouldn’t be used in “critical information infrastructure” projects. The country’s cyberspace regulator said its infrastructure operators “should stop purchasing Micron products” after a Chinese government review found they have “relatively serious potential network security issues, which pose a major security risk” to China, according to an unofficial translation of a May 21 notice. “The purpose of this network security review of Micron's products is to prevent product network security issues from endangering the security of the country's key information infrastructure, which is a necessary measure to maintain national security.”
The leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific are trying to pass legislation to give the president the ability to respond to economic coercion of allies, but Chair Young Kim, R-Calif., asked witnesses at a subcommittee hearing she convened to advise what else could be done to stand up to China's economic aggression.
The Treasury Department ‘understands” the challenges faced by banks, law firms, companies and others in trying to comply with multiple Russian sanctions regimes across the U.S., the EU and elsewhere, and is working to better align those restrictions to alleviate some headaches, said Brian Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Nelson, speaking during a law conference in Washington last week, said the agency is “working hard” to harmonize “our actions, our targets, the guidance that we're providing so that they are consistent across our jurisdictions.”
Members of Congress need to be mindful of what their proposals to regulate outbound investment might mean for U.S. businesses, one of the experts on a Washington International Trade Association webinar cautioned.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is mitigating more investment deals and is hiring more staff to manage its increasing workload, said Paul Rosen, head of CFIUS. Rosen also said the committee is assessing more violations for breaches of mitigation agreements and is “for the first time” beginning to receive voluntary self-disclosures.