Argentina, Brazil and Canada recently announced antidumping and countervailing duty actions and decisions on certain products from mainland China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 12.

Canada recently launched an Indo-Pacific strategy in an effort to “deepen” its “engagement” in Asia over the next decade. The strategy includes an initiative to expand trade and bolster supply chain resilience by establishing the Canadian Trade Gateway in Southeast Asia and creating the country’s first agricultural office in the region to help diversify its food exports. Canada said the new trade gateway will "provide a modern, dynamic environment for Canadian business leaders to meet as a community, identify common interests, leverage strengths and promote greater economic cooperation and innovation in the region."

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service issued a report this week on U.S. ingredient exports to Brazil, detailing the “significant opportunities” for U.S. companies to supply Brazilian food makers “looking to meet the needs of a growing health-conscious consumer market.” The agency said there is “particularly attractive growth potential” for U.S. exporters of whey, milk albumin, casein, alternative proteins, flavorings, vegetable fats and frozen fruits.

If the U.S. position on calculating the regional content of automobiles prevails in a USMCA state-to-state dispute, Baker McKenzie associate Eunkyung Kim Shin predicted, companies would be likely to import more parts used to assemble the automobiles. Shin, who spoke at a Baker McKenzie webinar Nov. 15, said that when the entire value of a part counts toward the vehicle regional content threshold once that part meets its own rule of origin, it makes sense to build the part in Mexico, the U.S. or Canada. But if the non-local content of those parts is not disregarded when doing vehicle-level calculations, it might be cheaper just to import the parts from a lower-cost country, she said.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in a series of four notices amended various entries under its sanctions regimes pertaining to North Korea, Myanmar, Russia and Global Human Rights.

The Dominican Republic is continuing to ban imports of U.S. poultry from states with “any type of detection” of highly pathogenic avian influenza, even if the outbreak was reported as “non-poultry,” USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Nov. 8 report. USDA said DR officials “continue to hold to a different interpretation” of the section of the World Organization for Animal Health that defines poultry and non-poultry outbreaks, adding the Caribbean nation believes non-poultry detections “represent a high risk of disease transfer” to its domestic industry. But the DR is allowing imports of certain U.S. poultry on a case-by-case basis if the importer can provide a traceability certificate “that states the origin of all poultry flock processed within a facility,” USDA said. The agency also noted that all U.S. poultry exports require an import license from the DR through the “electronic VUCE system prior to shipment.”

Brazil recently added 599 items to its list of foreign capital goods and information technology and telecommunications goods subject to duty-free treatment under its Ex-Tarifario regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Nov. 7. The 521 added capital goods are classified in Harmonized System chapters 84, 85, 86, 89 and 90, while the 78 added IT and telecom goods are classified in chapters 84, 85 and 90. Duty-free treatment lasts through Dec. 31, 2025. Brazil also established and renewed tariff rate quotas on several imports, including acrylic/modacrylic filament tow, glass carboys and bottles, certain glass bottles, alloy sheets and cellphone base station antennas. Other recent changes include revisions to Brazil's list of exceptions to the Mercosur common external tariff and other tariff changes.

Canada this week ordered three Chinese companies to divest themselves from Canadian businesses operating in its critical minerals sector, saying the foreign investments raised national security concerns and threaten the country’s critical mineral supply chains. Canada ordered Sinomine Rare Metals Resources to divest itself from Power Metals; Chengze Lithium International to divest itself from Lithium Chile; and Zangge Mining Investment to divest itself from Ultra Lithium.

Canada intends to propose new labeling requirements for certain products that contain substances considered toxic, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Nov. 3. The new labels, which could be placed on cosmetics, cleaning substances, flame retardants and others, will help give consumers information “on the presence" of toxic substances, which would help reduce risks to the environment or human health.” Canada plans to publish and consult on a product labeling strategy in 2023, the HKTDC said.

Brazil and Canada recently announced antidumping duty actions and decisions on certain products from mainland China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Oct. 24.