Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed to Chinese officials last week that the U.S. is not looking to decouple the two economies but wants to see changes to Chinese market conditions that she said are hurting American firms.

China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized the Biden administration’s annual report released this week on foreign trade barriers, saying it “arbitrarily accused China of so-called ‘non-market’ policies and practices and barriers in agricultural products, data policies and other aspects.” A ministry spokesperson told reporters. in response to a question about the report, that “whether a country's trade policy constitutes a barrier should be judged based on whether it violates” World Trade Organization rules, according to an unofficial translation. “The United States should stop making false accusations against other countries, earnestly abide by WTO rules, and jointly safeguard a fair and just international trade order.”

China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized the latest semiconductor export control rule released by the U.S. last week, saying it has “overextended the concept of national security, arbitrarily modified rules, and tightened control measures.” That the U.S. issued an export control update “less than half a year after the last time” has caused “huge uncertainty.”

Australia’s Parliament on March 27 passed the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act and Safeguarding Australia’s Military Secrets Act, two key pieces of legislation that are expected to better harmonize its defense trade regulations with the U.S. and the U.K. as part of the AUKUS partnership. The laws will help in “streamlining trade and collaboration with our AUKUS partners,” eliminate red tape on defense trade with both countries and bolster enforcement of illegal defense trade and information sharing, the country’s defense agency said.

Vietnam recently published an updated list of Harmonized System codes for agricultural goods that are subject to “specialized inspections,” including quarantine requirements or quality examinations, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a March report. The list includes animals, animal products, plants, plant products and feed ingredients. USDA said Vietnam recently made some “notable amendments” to its inspection procedures, including one change that will allow for a “post-clearance quality examination” of certain grains, oil seeds, oil seed meals, animal protein and other feed ingredients. The changes took effect March 20.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry objected to cyber-related sanctions announced earlier this week by the U.S. and the U.K., calling them “groundless.”

Lisa Su, CEO of American chip company AMD, met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao to discuss semiconductor supply chain issues, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a news release, according to an unofficial translation. The Chinese minister stressed that “the development of the semiconductor industry requires global cooperation,” adding that Beijing hopes the “United States and China will work together to provide companies with clear security boundaries and stable expectations.” Su during the meeting said China “is one of the focuses of AMD's global strategy,” the release said. “The company will continue to increase investment in China and work with local partners to provide better products and services for the Chinese market.” An AMD spokesperson didn't comment.

Australia will officially end its antidumping duties on certain Chinese wind towers April 16, the country’s AD Commission said this month. The announcement came after Australia and China agreed in October to resolve World Trade Organization disputes over the Australian duties as well as Chinese duties on Australian wine (see 2310230060).

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the U.S. House of Representatives’ March 13 passage of a bill to require China’s ByteDance to divest itself of social media application TikTok (see 2403130051), saying the vote falls on the “wrong side of the principles of fair competition and international trade rules.”

China said it has “expressed great concern” with the EU over a decision by the bloc earlier this month to begin customs registration for Chinese electric vehicle imports, setting them up to face retroactive tariffs if an ongoing EU investigation concludes they benefited from unfair subsidies.