Beijing criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision last week to add a range of Chinese entities to the Entity List (see 2509120077), saying the U.S. has "generalized national security and abused export controls to impose sanctions on numerous Chinese entities in sectors such as semiconductors, biotechnology, aerospace, and trade and logistics."

Beijing is investigating whether U.S. chip policies -- including export controls, tariffs and other trade restrictions -- are discriminating against China’s semiconductor sector by suppressing its firms from developing advanced technologies. China also launched an antidumping investigation on imports of certain U.S. analog chips.

Japan last week introduced new sanctions and export bans on entities supporting Russia's war against Ukraine and lowered its price cap on Russian oil following a similar move by the EU and other nations (see 2507180017).

China is imposing preliminary antidumping duties on imported pork from the EU more than a year after launching its investigation, the Ministry of Commerce announced Sept. 5, according to an unofficial translation (see 2406180009 and 2506160005). China assigned duties ranging from 15.6% to 32.7% to a list of specific companies, and all other firms will face a 62.4% duty. The new AD rates take effect Sept. 10. The investigation and resulting preliminary duties are viewed as retaliation against EU countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles (see 2406120008).

China last week extended its antidumping duty investigation on imported rapeseed from Canada "in view of the complexity of this case," the country's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry opened the probe last year and had hoped to complete it by September, but it's now extending the investigation through March 9.

China this week announced antidumping duties on more types of optical fiber imports from the U.S. after launching an investigation in March to determine whether American companies were evading tariffs on certain optical fibers (see 2503060062). The new AD will apply to "non-dispersion-shifted single-mode optical fibers" from the U.S., China's Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 3, according to an unofficial translation. The duties will range from 33.3% to 78.2% beginning Sept. 4 and remain in place through April 21, 2028.

The Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to remove the China-based factories of Samsung and SK hynix from its Validated End-User List is "selfish" and will hurt global semiconductor supply chains, China's Ministry of Commerce said last week, according to an unofficial translation.

Australia is proposing to eliminate nearly 500 tariffs that it said are a "nuisance" for Australian companies, including duties on tires, televisions, wine glasses, air conditioners and more, the country’s trade ministry said Aug. 28. The country said it’s accepting public comments on the proposed list of tariffs by Dec. 10, and it plans to publish a “full and final list of agreed tariffs for removal” soon after.

Beijing last week criticized a decision by France, Germany and the U.K. to initiate snapback U.N. sanctions against Iran (see 2508280033), saying it will hurt diplomacy with Iran. “Initiating the snapback process at the Security Council is not a constructive move, which will disrupt the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue through political and diplomatic means,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a regular press conference in Beijing Aug. 29. “China believes that current moves by the Security Council should contribute to resuming dialogue and negotiation rather than create new confrontation and lead to deterioration or even escalation of the situation.” The spokesperson said Beijing wants to “play a constructive role in bringing the issue back to the track of diplomatic settlement as early as possible.”

China is renewing its antidumping duties on imports of phenol from the U.S., the EU, South Korea, Japan and Thailand, but it won't renew AD for phenol from the U.K., China’s Ministry of Commerce said Aug. 28, according to an unofficial translation. The duties, which will apply for five years from Aug. 29, range from 244.3% to 287.2% for American companies, are at 30.4% for all EU companies, and range from 12.5% to 23.7% for South Korean companies, from 19.3% to 27% for Japanese companies, and from 10.6% to 28.6% for Thai companies. The ministry said no Chinese company requested that the AD be renewed for the U.K. China said phenol is an “important organic chemical raw material” used in synthetic fibers and for other industrial purposes.