China is examining ways to speed up purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, including a potential purchase of 10 million tons of U.S. soybeans for state reserves, according to an April 23 Bloomberg report. China, which is hoping to reach its commitments under the phase one trade deal with the U.S., is also considering buying as much as 20 million tons of U.S. corn, the report said, which would surpass the country's corn import quota. Discussions surrounding those purchases are still ongoing, the Bloomberg report said, and some Chinese officials have raised doubts about whether China should be helping U.S.’s agricultural sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on China’s own economy. Despite expectations that the virus will impact China’s ability to purchase U.S. agricultural goods (see 2002120043), the Trump administration said it expects China to begin fulfilling its commitments by this summer (see 2003040029), and has touted the progress made toward those purchases (see 2003240041).

Vietnam’s 400,000 ton rice export quota for April was filled in three hours, leading to “chaotic developments” and “disappointed” rice exporters, according to an April 20 report from CustomsNews, the mouthpiece for Vietnam Customs. The quickly filled quota, introduced by Vietnam to maintain domestic supplies of rice during the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2004140029), left rice shipments stuck at ports as exporters were unable to file any more declarations with the government, the report said. Vietnamese rice exporters complained that the government did not give “prior notice” before opening up its customs system for rice export declarations, which was opened at midnight on April 11, according to an April 14 report from Viet Nam News. Industry is “collecting opinions” to deliver to Vietnam’s trade and customs agencies, saying the system rollout “in the middle of the night was extremely unfair,” the report said.

Japan will temporarily suspend “strict monitoring” of “non-critical” food labeling due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Japanese supply chains, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released April 17. The measure aims to ensure Japanese consumers have a “sufficient supply” of food products, the USDA said. Food labeling requirements usually include a list of ingredients, country of origin and nutrition information.

Myanmar extended its electronic export and import license application system to cover more items in response to social distancing requirements instituted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an April 20 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The system will now cover animal feed supplements, vegetable cooking oil, instant coffee, “bird’s nest,” certain pharmaceutical products, “herbal medicines,” veterinary medicines, fertilizers, certain medical devices and certain dairy products, the report said.

India reduced restrictions on exports that include the painkiller paracetamol, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said April 17. The announcement lifts restrictions on medicines and other “formulations made of paracetamol,” India said. But “paracetamol [active pharmaceutical ingredients] will remain restricted for export,” India said.

The Council on Foreign Relations said that U.S., European and Japanese pushback over Made in China 2025, at least the part on high performance medical devices, may ebb after the coronavirus pandemic has passed -- because other countries will want to implement their own versions. “If any country knows a little bit about reducing industrial dependence on the rest of the world through conscious industrial choices, that would be China,” said Brad Stetser, a CFR senior fellow for international economics, during a webinar April 16. He said China is displacing imported semiconductors, but has been less successful in displacing imported aircraft.

South Korea obtained a “special license” from the U.S. to export humanitarian goods to Iran, according to an April 17 report from the Korea Herald. The license allows South Korean companies to export to Iran under “enhanced due diligence” requirements that include a “much longer and more complicated process,” the report said. The South Korean government hopes the license will allow it to soon establish a humanitarian channel to trade with Iran, similar to the U.S.-Swiss joint mechanism announced earlier this year (see 2002270017), the report said. The Treasury Department did not comment.

Singapore Customs’ TradeNet will undergo system maintenance from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time on May 3, and 4 a.m. to noon on May 17 and May 31, Singapore said in an April 17 notice. The agency is advising users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to usual maintenance on Sundays from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Indonesia introduced guidance for its tax and customs relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic response, KPMG said in an April 15 post. The guidance clarified that overseas sellers and e-commerce operators must appoint an Indonesia-based representative who is responsible for paying and reporting taxes related to those transactions, KPMG said. In addition, value-added taxes on imports of “intangible goods and taxable services” must be collected by “foreign sellers, foreign service providers, and/or foreign or local e-commerce platforms.”

The U.S. has asked China to amend its increased export control inspections that are causing delays of medical supply shipments (see 2004160035, 2004150034 and 2004130014), according to a State Department spokesperson. “We appreciate the efforts to ensure quality control. But we do not want this to serve as an obstacle for the timely export of important supplies,” the spokesperson said in an April 17 statement. The spokesperson added that the U.S. has “raised these concerns” with China and requested that it “revise its new requirements to allow the expeditious export of vital [personal protective equipment] to the United States.” The U.S. is working “closely” with U.S. companies exporting medical supplies from China to help them “understand the new regulations and raise concerns about held-up shipments,” the spokesperson said. The request was first reported by Reuters.