Japan recently removed “seasonal restrictions” on the import window of U.S. chipping potatoes and lifted the two-month maximum storage restriction, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released March 6. The changes, which took effect last month, were the result of 15 years of discussions between the USDA and Japan in which the U.S. tried to “demonstrate that the limited trade window was not a phytosanitary-based restriction, but rather a technical barrier to trade.”
Continued U.S. restrictions on exports of technology to Chinese companies could have “profound negative repercussions” for the U.S. semiconductor industry, significantly depleting their global competitive standing, according to a March 9 report from the Boston Consulting Group. If current export control trends continue or escalate, leading to a further decoupling between U.S. and China, U.S. semiconductor companies could lose “8 percentage points of global share and 16% of their revenues,” the report said. And if the U.S. bans semiconductor companies from selling to Chinese customers, U.S. companies would lose nearly 40 percent of their revenues, the report said, leading to “severe” cuts in research and development and losses of thousands of jobs.
Hundreds of vessels dredged sand in North Korea’s Haeju Bay before illegally exporting it to China, according to a March report from C4ADS, a nonprofit data analysis organization. The operation, which took place in May 2019, violated United Nations Security Council resolutions and demonstrates “a level of sophistication unlike other known cases of North Korean sanctions evasion at sea,” the report said, shedding light on North Korea’s ability to “execute complex operations” to export goods. The sand was dredged by a “large fleet” that sailed from Chinese waters to North Korea, spiking traffic in Automatic Identification System traffic in the waters, the report said. The traffic was unusual because vessels rarely transmit their AIS numbers, in order “to avoid scrutiny from sanctions monitors.” The sand can be used to construct concrete, glass and silicon chips used on electronic devices, the report said.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., introduced legislation on March 5 meant to make sure “U.S. communications infrastructure security is a clear negotiating objective of our country’s trade policy,” he said in a news release. “This legislation would ensure the security of equipment and technology that create the global communications infrastructure are front and center in our trade negotiations, because you can’t have free trade if the global digital infrastructure is compromised.”
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China has taken “numerous actions” to begin implementing its agricultural purchase commitments under the U.S-China phase one trade deal, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Feb. 25. China recently announced it will allow imports of U.S. “fresh chipping potatoes” (see 2002240011), lifted an import ban on U.S. poultry and poultry products (see 1911140019) and lifted restrictions on certain pet food imports (see 2002240010) from the U.S. China also updated its list of facilities approved for exporting animal protein, pet food, dairy, infant formula and tallow, updated the list of goods that can be exported to China as feed additives and updated an approved list of imported U.S. seafood species.
Discussions within the Commerce Department to expand U.S. export control jurisdiction over foreign exports to Huawei and beyond would have a chilling effect on the U.S. semiconductor industry, said John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Neuffer said current U.S. export restrictions on Huawei are already hurting the industry’s ability to sell to China -- which represents about 35% of U.S. semiconductor sales -- and more restrictions would further alienate Chinese customers who are weary of being added to Commerce’s Entity List. “Some of them are afraid they’re next,” Neuffer said during a Feb. 18 panel hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
California-based Alpha and Omega Semiconductor is being investigated by the Justice Department for export control violations relating to shipments to Huawei, the company said in a Feb. 5 press release. The company said it has been ordered by the Commerce Department to stop all shipments to Huawei and is working with the agency to “resolve this issue.” The semiconductor company has an export control compliance program in place and is committed “to comply fully” with U.S. export laws, but said it expects revenue hits due to penalties “incurred in connection with the investigation” and by the “Huawei shipment interruption.”
The Commerce Department withdrew a rule that was expected to impose controls on exports of field effect transistor technology (see 1912170031), according to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget. The “Gate-All-Around Field Effect Transistor (GAAFET) Technology” rule, which was sent to OIRA in November and withdrawn Feb. 11, was expected to be one of six rules issued by Commerce early this year (see 1912160032) as part of the agency’s effort to control emerging technologies. Commerce has faced delays while trying to release the rules, which officials expected to be issued by now (see 2002040057). So far, Commerce has issued one rule in the vein of emerging technologies: a January interim final rule to control geospatial imagery software (see 2001030024).
As the coronavirus outbreak disrupts supply chains, U.S. agricultural exporters are unsure when normal cargo processing will resume and are concerned about penalties from ocean freight carriers, according to a Feb. 3 open letter to ocean carriers by Agriculture Transportation Coalition Executive Director Peter Friedmann.