China defended itself again this week against accusations from the EU, the U.S. and others that Beijing is withholding exports of critical minerals and other rare earths (see 2505300002), saying it has a right to impose export controls on those items.

The U.S. has "seriously" violated the consensus reached by Washington and Beijing during trade talks in Switzerland last month when it placed new export restrictions on chip design software (see 2505290038 and 2505300006) and warned companies against using advanced chips made by Huawei (see 2505130018), China's Ministry of Commerce said this week.

China's Foreign Ministry criticized recent measures by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security to restrict exports of a range of items to China, saying Beijing "firmly" opposes the controls and "will resolutely defend our legitimate rights and interests."

China is imposing antidumping duties on imported polyformaldehyde copolymer, a type of engineering thermoplastic, from the U.S., the EU, Taiwan and Japan, according to a notice posted by the Chinese State Council Information Office. The duties took effect May 19 and will remain in place for five years. Rates range from 3.8% to 74.9%.

China this week said it’s temporarily reversing April announcements that added dozens of U.S. companies to the country’s unreliable entity list, which blocked those firms from participating in import and export activities in China, and its export control list, which blocked them from receiving certain dual-use items (see 2504090017 and 2504040024). Beijing will suspend those restrictions for 90 days from May 14, the Ministry of Commerce said, according to unofficial translations.

Beijing has launched a "special operation" to crack down on illegal exports of critical minerals, such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and other rare earths, according to an unofficial translation of a May 9 Ministry of Commerce notice. The ministry said China's Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism gathered agencies for a meeting to discuss how they can better stop export smuggling, specifically pointing to "overseas entities" that "have colluded with domestic illegal personnel" to evade Chinese export controls.

China and Belarus held the ninth meeting of their economic and trade working group in Beijing this week, where the two sides applauded their deepening trade ties and vowed to continue expanding opportunities for Chinese companies in Belarus.

Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry will be the only entity capable of issuing non-preferential certificates of origin for Malaysian shipments destined to the U.S., the agency said this week, adding that the change will help address traders that use its ports to illegally transship foreign goods to the U.S. and evade certain American import duties.

China is "evaluating" whether to begin trade talks with the U.S. after the Trump administration recently sent messages to Beijing in a bid to start negotiations about recent tariffs imposed by the two nations, China's Ministry of Commerce said May 2, according to an unofficial translation of a portion of a press conference. Senior U.S. officials "have repeatedly expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs," a ministry spokesperson said. "China is currently evaluating this."

Malaysia recently launched the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS), which will consolidate point of entry inspection functions from several government agencies, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said in an April 22 report. AKPS took over inspections at 22 entry points in February and is expected to control all 114 entry points by 2026.