The U.S. is ceding its strategic and trade advantages in the Indo-Pacific to China, which is expanding its influence through technology exports and outbound technology investments, the Center for a New American Security said in a March 31 report. The Joe Biden administration can reverse the trend through closer cooperation with allies in the region, including Japan and India, which have been willing to deny certain Chinese investments and object to coercion attempts, CNAS said.

The State Department will urge the Treasury Department to not renew a Belarus-related general license following the country’s disputed presidential elections last year and its violent crackdown on peaceful protester (see 2012230030), an agency spokesperson said. The general license, which has been renewed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control every year since 2015, authorizes certain transactions with nine Belarusian entities and is scheduled to expire April 26.

The State Department on March 31 issued its annual report to Congress certifying that Hong Kong doesn’t warrant differential treatment from mainland China under U.S. law. The report follows a determination last year by the Trump administration that Beijing’s so-called national security law was infringing upon Hong Kong’s autonomy, which led to a series of U.S.-imposed trade restrictions, sanctions and export controls (see 2005270026, 2012220053 and 2103170027). Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will continue to work with Congress and allies “to stand with people in Hong Kong against [China’s] egregious policies and actions.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the 2021 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, detailing foreign market access barriers faced by U.S. exporters. The 574-page report examines 65 U.S. trading partners and country groups, including any import policies, tariffs, customs, procedures and phytosanitary measures that are restricting U.S. goods.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 22-26 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The U.S. shouldn't pursue sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and instead should focus on working with European countries to find an alternative to the Russian gas pipeline project, said Daniel Fried, the former senior director of the National Security Council for presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Although Fried said the project is a “dumb idea,” he also said he’s “not a big fan of trying to kill Nord Stream 2” with sanctions. “Let's find another way than a sanctions war with Germany,” Fried said during a March 30 event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.

The Joe Biden administration’s trade agenda should prioritize export control cooperation with Europe, work to remove trade barriers for U.S. exporters in Asian markets and address unfair Chinese trade practices, a U.S. technology industry group said. If U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai promotes the right trade “goals,” the U.S. can “re-establish” its technology leadership and boost export competitiveness, the Information Technology Industry Council said in a March 30 letter to Tai.

Experts in the United Kingdom are expressing a skepticism over the effectiveness of Britain's new freeport system, questioning the ports' ability to attract new investment and provide duty relief for imports. They point to accusations of the political nature of the system's execution and the fallacy that the U.K. couldn't have set up the freeports when it was part of the EU, when in fact they existed on England's shores from 1984 to 2012. A lot of “magical thinking” goes into freeports, Steptoe & Johnson's Christophe Bondy said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Italian gas equipment manufacturer $950,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 26 notice. The company, Nordgas S.r.l., knowingly reexported 27 shipments of U.S.-origin “air pressure switches” to Iran, OFAC said, and caused a U.S. company to “indirectly” export goods to Iran.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revised the Commerce Control List and the Export Administration Regulations to implement changes made during the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary, the agency said in a final rule released March 26. Along with revising various Export Control Classification Numbers and correcting language in the EAR, the rule eliminated certain reporting requirements for encryption items, which BIS expects to “reduce the regulatory burden” for U.S. exporters. The changes take effect March 29.