Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry will be the only entity capable of issuing non-preferential certificates of origin for Malaysian shipments destined to the U.S., the agency said this week, adding that the change will help address traders that use its ports to illegally transship foreign goods to the U.S. and evade certain American import duties.
China is "evaluating" whether to begin trade talks with the U.S. after the Trump administration recently sent messages to Beijing in a bid to start negotiations about recent tariffs imposed by the two nations, China's Ministry of Commerce said May 2, according to an unofficial translation of a portion of a press conference. Senior U.S. officials "have repeatedly expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs," a ministry spokesperson said. "China is currently evaluating this."
Malaysia recently launched the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS), which will consolidate point of entry inspection functions from several government agencies, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 22 report. AKPS took over inspections at 22 entry points in February and is expected to control all 114 entry points by 2026.
The congressionally mandated National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology recommended in a report this month that lawmakers pass legislation to prevent U.S. outbound investment from supporting China’s development of biotechnology that could harm national security.
China plans to sanction U.S. lawmakers, “officials” and heads of non-governmental organizations in response to the State Department’s sanctioning of six Hong Kong government and police officials, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said April 21 at a regular press conference, according to a translation the ministry provided in English.
China’s recently published rules to further implement its anti-foreign sanctions law makes clear that Beijing could take legal action against anyone helping to implement a foreign sanction aimed at China, Wilmer Hale said in a recent client alert.
China’s Ministry of Commerce this month issued new FAQs about its dual-use export controls, including guidance on how exporters should determine whether an item is subject to China’s controls.
China is raising tariff levels to 125% for U.S. origin goods in response to President Donald Trump's April 9 decision to raise tariffs to the same rate for Chinese goods (see 2504090043).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressed concern over U.S. tariff policy but said it wants to pursue diplomacy and not "impose any retaliatory measures."
China raised the tariff rate on U.S.-origin goods, from 34% to 84%, in response to President Donald Trump's April 8 executive order raising reciprocal rates by 50% (see 2504080079), the Office of the Tariff Commission of the State Council announced April 9. The new tariffs will take effect at 12:01 a.m. April 10, the commission said, according to an unofficial translation.