Companies should review existing and prospective agreements for potential liability under China's anti-foreign sanctions law, Evan Chuck of Crowell & Moring advised during a Practising Law Institute webinar on Sept. 26.

U.S. vegetable exporters may benefit from Japan’s record-breaking summer heat, which has delayed the planting of autumn and winter vegetables in the country, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report in September. Although the agency said Japan is “nearly self-sufficient for fresh vegetable consumption,” it may increasingly turn to imports to make up for supply shortfalls. U.S. exporters of onions, celery and lettuce could benefit, USDA said.

Russia has amassed over 150,000 surplus shipping containers due to the large increase in goods coming from China but a much lower number leaving the country, an analysis from German trading platform Container xChange found. The excess containers are causing headaches for Russian rail depots.

Singapore Customs fined Hydronav Services, a Singapore-based exporter, over $1.1 million for shipping strategic goods without the required permits in violation of the nation's Strategic Goods (Control) Act, the agency said. Two Hydronav employees were also fined for their involvement in the scheme -- one for $35,000, the other for $45,000.

China condemned the Treasury Department's additions of 28 entities, including various Chinese entities, on the Entity List for their acts violating U.S. national security. The U.S. "abuses unilateral sanctions" to undercut international trade rules, hinder normal trade exchanges and curb the "legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," the Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation.

China and the EU held the "10th EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue" on Sept. 25, discussing the effect of Russia's war in Ukraine on global economics, food and energy security. Also discussed were "EU concerns on access to the Chinese market," prospects for rebalancing the EU-China trade relationship "on the basis of transparency," and predictability and reciprocity, the European Commission said.

China recently updated the list of products whose foreign production facilities are required to register under Decree 248, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Sept. 20 report. China removed from the list 14 products and added 15 products, impacting certain dairy products, poultry products, fruit and vegetable juice, canned fruit, aquatic products, sweets and chocolates. It said: "Some of the updates are not complete removals of the products, but additions of the same products with different Customs, Inspection, and Quarantine (CIQ) codes created for China Customs’ use."

India's Directorate-General of Foreign Trade on Sept. 20 delisted 29 chambers of commerce or agencies from the list of agencies allowed to issue certificates of origin for failing to comply with the directive to onboard the DGFT's e-country of origin platform. The certificates of origin issued by these agencies were nonpreferential.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov this week to discuss expanding trade between the two countries, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 19, according to an unofficial translation.

New Indian export restrictions on white rice have caused global importers to instead buy from Thailand, Vietnam and other suppliers, causing export price quotes to “surge” to the highest levels since 2008, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Sept. 19 report. The agency said the July restrictions on Indian rice have “sent shockwaves through the global rice market,” adding that rice prices already had been rising before the measures.