Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 in case they were missed.
Exports to China
One panelist said it will take 20 years to know who are the winners and losers of today's tariffs and export restrictions. Another panelist said U.S. factory workers making washing machines and solar panels are clearly winning from the safeguards launched nearly two years ago, as are Vietnam and Mexico. Another panelist said Vietnam and Thailand, and Mexico to a much lesser degree. As moderator Lucas Queiroz Piers said, “It is a confusing moment." The Alston & Bird legal consultant was coordinating a panel called "U.S. Sanctions and Trade War: Winners and Losers," at an American University Washington School of Law International Trade Symposium on Nov. 5.
China and Thailand agreed on several measures to increase trade, including an enhanced railway system and improved cooperation in agricultural trade, according to a Nov. 5 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The two sides agreed to “expand cooperation in agricultural trade” and e-commerce as well as in auto, medical equipment and rubber sectors, the report said. The countries also plan to build the China-Thailand railway “into a successful example in bilateral cooperation” and “speed up the implementation of the railway project.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson was critical of the U.S.’s Nov. 4 decision to impose sanctions on Iranian military and government officials (see 1911040028), saying the U.S. should instead turn to negotiations. “China opposes unilateral sanctions and so-called ‘long-arm jurisdiction,’” the spokesperson said during a Nov. 5 press conference. “Arbitrary sanctions or threat of sanctions cannot solve problems.” The spokesperson urged the U.S. to begin a “dialogue” to “resolve disputes.” The spokesperson also said that U.S. and Chinese negotiations are progressing well and the two sides “keep in contact,” but declined to say when the next meeting will take place. “The trade talks have achieved progress and are now moving forward as planned,” he said.
China will take more measures to lower tariffs and diversify imports “from around the world,” President Xi Jinping said during a speech to open China’s international trade fair on Nov. 5. Xi said the country plans to continue expanding market access to foreign companies and is focusing on increasing its imports. “China will give greater importance to import. We will continue to lower tariffs and institutional transaction costs, develop demonstration zones to promote import trade by creative means, and import more high-quality goods and services from around the world,” Xi said.
The Commerce Department will issue Huawei-related export licenses “very shortly,” Secretary Wilbur Ross said, adding that the agency has received more than 260 applications. “Those will be forthcoming very shortly,” Ross told Bloomberg on Nov. 3, declining to give a more specific time frame. Ross said in July that Commerce planned to release the licenses “within the next few weeks” (see 1907240030).
An agreement on the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be signed in 2020, Thailand said, despite some countries’ hope that it would be finalized this year. Thailand, which chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said in a Nov. 3 statement that the parties are committed to signing the deal by February, according to a Nov. 3 Reuters report. The statement came after several calls for the deal to be completed this year, including from China and Japan (see 1904180052).
Four people were charged with trying to illegally export military-related goods to China, the Justice Department said Nov. 1. The four people -- Fan Yang, Yang Tang, Ge Songtao and Zheng Yan -- were involved in an attempt to illegally export seven military-style inflatable boats and eight engines to China, the Justice Department said. Yang, Ge and Zheng were also charged with filing false information in the Automated Export System, while Fan, Yang and Ge were charged with illegal arms transfer offenses, including a law that bans certain arms transfers to non-U.S. residents. Convictions for filing false export information may result in a maximum five-year prison sentence, the Justice Department said.
China and New Zealand agreed to upgrade their free trade deal to improve customs facilitation, remove trade barriers and revise rules of origin procedures, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Nov. 4. China said both countries will “benefit from improved rules,” adding that the deal also includes measures on e-commerce, competition policy and increased market access for certain goods. “These results reflect the desire of both countries to ensure that the China-New Zealand FTA remains ambitious, modern and high quality … and demonstrates the commitment of both countries to free and open trade and a rules-based multilateral trading system,” China said.
Japan implored countries to drop restrictions on Japanese food imports from Fukushima, saying the restrictions are hurting its farmers. Several countries, including South Korea, have imposed measures to guard against possible radiation contamination from food imported from Fukushima, which was the site of a nuclear power plant that was damaged by a tsunami in 2011.