Certain features of Singapore’s TradeNet will be unavailable from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Oct. 6 due to scheduled system maintenance, Singapore Customs said in a Sept. 18 notice. Just the applications "involving amendment, cancellation, refund and stock related permit applications" will not be processed during that time, Singapore Customs said. This system maintenance is in addition to regular maintenance performed on Sundays.
The World Trade Organization on Sept. 16 released South Korea’s most recent complaint against Japan in which it requests consultations over the two sides’ trade dispute. The document, dated Sept. 11, outlines South Korea’s issues with Japan’s export restrictions on three chemicals used in the manufacturing of smartphones, TV displays and semiconductors. South Korea said Japan’s restrictions were politically motivated and “unrelated to any legitimate export control considerations.” South Korea also said Japan’s additional moves, including its decision to remove South Korea from a list of trusted trading partners, has caused “unnecessary delay” and “increased scrutiny” for products destined for South Korea. South Korea said it hopes to find a “mutually acceptable date for consultations” with Japan to address the issues.
Indonesia will ban nickel exports beginning Jan. 1, 2020, instead of the originally proposed date in 2022, according to a Sept. 17 blog post by Baker McKenzie. The ban, announced by the country’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, will “apply to all different types of nickel” and not “just nickel ore with certain percentages,” the post said. The ban is expected to be cleared by Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights before taking effect, the post said.
A U.S. decoupling from China would be a mistake, China’s U.S. ambassador said, criticizing what he called the U.S.’s alarmist foreign policy and its “wrong rationale” for starting a trade war with China. Ambassador Cui Tiankai said decoupling may not even be possible because of the “inseparable links” between the two countries. “And considering China’s advantages in cost, market and supply chain and its growing edge in innovation, to decouple from China is to decouple from opportunities,” Cui said, speaking Sept. 17 in New York.
China is planning to strengthen its export controls through a new law that may be implemented this year, according to a Sept. 16 Lexology post from AnJie Law Firm.
China is amending measures surrounding its food safety inspections regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a Sept. 17 report. Random food safety inspections will be defined as "regulatory, risk-related or evaluatory as is deemed appropriate" given "varying priorities accorded individual inspections," HKTDC said. The revised provisions also clarify that all impromptu inspections must be selected randomly, revise China’s re-inspection procedures and more. The changes take effect Oct. 1.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service released on Sept. 13 a report on China’s second round of tariff exclusions, including a list of eligible products, eligible applicants, how to apply for exemptions and their scope of eligibility. The report includes translations of the more than 400 tariff lines of U.S. agricultural goods that are eligible for exemption. Applications for exclusions are being accepted by China's Ministry of Finance through Oct. 18, 2019.
A Chinese State Council official recently met with Russian officials to discuss “a number of pragmatic cooperation agreements” in several areas, including trade, agriculture and technology, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said during a Sept. 12 press conference, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript of the event. The two sides also agreed to create a “Northeast-Far East Business Council” and plan to hold the first meeting this year, the spokesman said. China said its goal is “expanding and strengthening traditional trade” with Russia, and to “accelerate the negotiation of economic and trade system arrangements.”
China criticized comments from Australia’s former prime minister about Huawei after he suggested Britain follow the U.S. and Australia's lead and also ban products of the Chinese tech giant. The comments were “a blatant discrimination against Chinese companies,” a China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said during a Sept. 12 press conference, according to a transcript in English provided by the Chinese Embassy in Washington. “Australia has also been lecturing other countries about the 5G network and encouraging them to follow suit. Such disgraceful and immoral conduct is against basic market principles and international rules, which China firmly opposes.”
China issued guidance for its free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the rules of origin for imports and exports, according to a Sept. 11 KPMG alert.