China added three U.S. defense companies, including a business unit of Boeing, to its Unreliable Entity List for arms sales to Taiwan, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced May 20. The agency said it added Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security unit, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and General Dynamics Land Systems to the list, prohibiting them from participating in “import and export activities related to China” and subjecting them to other restrictions, according to an unofficial translation.
Australia last week sanctioned six entities that it said have ties to North Korea’s supply of weapons and military items to Russia. “Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea’s illegal export and Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine,” the country said in a May 17 notice. The notice didn’t list the designated entities.
A new report from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said there are many rising opportunities for American agricultural exports to Vietnam and Thailand, citing increasing demand for U.S. “consumer oriented products.” The agency said “robust opportunities exist” for exports to Vietnam, among them “bulk commodities related to feed and manufacturing,” including cotton, soybeans and grains. USDA also said beef, dairy, fruit and wine exports to Thailand have strong “growth potential.” Both countries have “growing consumer preference for U.S. branded products and exporters of U.S. agricultural products are sure to find exciting prospects in these markets,” USDA 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 report this month. China removed from the list two products and added 14 products, impacting certain aquatic products, edible vegetable oils, frozen fruits and special medical use formula. 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."
China again extended its Section 301 retaliatory tariff exclusion period for sorbitol and other non-U.S. agricultural goods, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a May report. The exclusion period was scheduled to expire April 30 but now will remain in effect until Nov. 30. USDA said this is the seventh time China has extended the exclusion period for sorbitol, adding that the U.S. was the third-largest supplier of sorbitol to China in 2023, with Chinese imports reaching $1.2 million.
China on May 7 voiced its opposition to the U.S. reportedly revoking the export licenses that Intel and Qualcomm use to sell certain semiconductors to Huawei (see 2405070081). The Ministry of Commerce said the move violates World Trade Organization commitments, according to an unofficial translation.
China expressed serious concern over the Japanese government's announcement of plans to implement new export controls on semiconductors and other technologies, according to a summary of answers to reporters' questions from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the move is an effort to generalize the notion of national security and abuse export control measures to fragment the global semiconductor market. The result will "seriously affect the normal trade exchanges between Chinese and Japanese companies" and damage the global supply chain. China said it will "take necessary measures" to safeguard its interests.
Japan opened an antidumping duty investigation on graphite electrodes from China, the ministries of Finance and Economy, Trade and Industry announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministries decided to conduct the joint investigation following a petition from Japanese companies SEC Carbon, Tokai Carbon Co. and Nippon Carbon Co. The investigation will take one year and will allow for interested parties to comment on the proceeding.
The European Commission on April 24 opened the first investigation under its International Procurement Instrument in response to practices in the Chinese procurement market for medical devices which allegedly "discriminate unfairly against European companies and products," the commission said.
China announced that it is "firmly opposed" to both the U.S. decision to open a new Section 301 investigation on allegedly unfair practices in China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors (see 2404170029) and President Joe Biden's call for a "tripling" of the existing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum (see 2404170040).