China imposed sanctions on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for her visit to Taiwan last week, China’s foreign affairs ministry said Aug. 5. China said Pelosi’s visit “constitutes a gross interference in China’s internal affairs,” but didn’t specify what the sanctions entail. The measures also apply to Pelosi’s immediate family members, China said.

China’s military exercises around the Taiwan Strait last week disrupted trade routes for cargo sailing around the world, Reuters reported Aug. 5. The exercises, conducted in response to the visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to Taiwan, forced some ships to give the Taiwan Strait a “wide berth,” the report said, adding about half a day to their voyages. The delays have affected various commodity shipments, including oil.

Vietnam imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on sugar products imported from Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar that use Thai sugar materials, the state-run CustomsNews reported Aug. 4. The trade remedies are meant to target evasion of the AD/CVD on Thai sugar and amount to a 42.99% antidumping duty and a 4.65% countervailing duty, though the imports won't be subject to the duties if it can be proven that they were made with sugarcane harvested in the five countries. The tariffs will expire June 15, 2026, unless another decision from the Ministry of Industry and Trade changes the duties.

Vietnam sanctioned M.C.V. Solution for importing goods infringing on protected trademark rights, the state-run CustomsNews reported Aug. 4. The Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department fined the company just over $21,000 for importing circuit boards infringing on Samsung trademark rights. The counterfeit Samsung goods were imported through express delivery shipments. The circuit boards were worth around $14,000.

India updated the import policy of "cyclanes, cyclenes and cycloterpenes: -- cyclohexane" imported under HS code 29021100, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced Aug. 4. The move drops the requirement for Bureau of Indian Standards certification for "Hexane, Food Grade."

China blocked imports of food entries from Taiwan ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island nation, suspending biscuits, pastries and bread imports from 35 Taiwanese exporters, Reuters reported Aug. 2. Among the 3,200 Taiwanese companies registered with China's General Administration of Customs under the food category, 2,066 of their entries had been suspended.

Vietnam halved the port infrastructure fees for imported and exported goods shipped via inland waterways to and from Ho Chi Minh City starting Aug. 1, the state-run CustomsNews e-magazine reported. The 50% fee cut is applied to goods for temporary import and reexport or deposited in bonded warehouses and for transit and transshipment of goods, placing the fee at $2.20 per tonne for liquid and bulk cargo, $94.50 for a 20-foot container and $189 for a 40-foot container. Certain goods are exempted from the fees, including those meant for national security.

Singapore Customs brought its Strategic Goods Control List up to date with the Wassenaar Arrangement's Munitions List and the 2021 EU's List of Dual-Use Items, with the changes coming into effect Oct. 1, the agency announced Aug. 1. The EUDL lays out items controlled by the four multilateral export control regimes: the Australia Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. The update includes new controls and editorial changes for "consistency and clarity" of the controls, the notice said. The amendment to Strategic Goods (Control) Regulations' fourth and fifth schedules includes new items and is also effective Oct. 1.

India extended until March 31, 2023, the date for the mandatory electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO) forms through the Common Digital Platform, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced Aug. 1. Until that deadline, exporters and NP CoO-issuing agencies have the option of using hard copy or the online system.

India changed the import policy for malonylurea (barbituric acid) in an Aug. 1 notice, no longer requiring a "No Objection Certificate" from the narcotics commissioner in Gwalior, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced. The change applies to "Compounds containing a pyrimidine ring (whether or not hydrogenated) or piperazine ring in the structure : -- Malonylurea (Varbituric Acid) and its salts."