A top Commerce Department official tempered fears that the U.S. wants to stifle industry competitiveness (see 2003100044 and 2002180060) as it considers further restricting exports to Huawei and China, saying that is not the administration's goal. “Why would you restrict a U.S. company if you're only going to be enabling their competitor?” said Rich Ashooh, Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration. “That’s a very important principle to engage in.”
Ecuador recently renewed its tariff exemptions for imports of soybean meal and wheat from all origins, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released March 2. The exemptions took effect Jan. 1 and will last for five years, the agency said. The extension marks the first time Ecuador has announced a five-year renewal, the agency said, adding that previous extensions have covered only two- to three-year periods.
The last American to serve on the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, Tom Graham, told the Georgetown Law International Trade Update conference that the body “is not coming back any time soon.” Graham, who largely agrees with the U.S. critique of Appellate Body overreach, added, “The new I have come to ... is that it's better this way.” Graham was the most prominent, but far from the only speaker at the March 5-6 conference to say that neither the Europeans nor the Americans are ready to have a meeting of the minds on how to reform the appellate function of the rules-based trading order.
If President Donald Trump is not re-elected, the next administration will remain focused on China, export controls and Entity List actions but will likely approach China with a more clear, predictable strategy, two former top Commerce Department officials said. “You would see a more well-defined, carefully thought-through approach to issues like Huawei,” Peter Lichtenbaum, who served as Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration during the Bush administration, said during a March 6 International Trade Update panel at the Georgetown University law school. “Not because it's a Democratic [administration], but because it's a more regular-order administration and less policy made by tweet.”
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Commerce Department will hold the first meeting of its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee May 19, the agency said in a notice in the Federal Register. The committee will focus on identifying emerging technologies with dual uses for potential control by the Bureau of Industry and Security, which is working on restricting exports of both emerging and foundational technologies (see 2002040057). The first meeting is expected to feature remarks from BIS management. The meeting was originally scheduled for December and January before being delayed both times due to issues getting members their security clearances (see 2002240033).
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Mar. 4 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Global Affairs Canada is seeking comment on the “Origin Quota commitment for Vehicles under the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union,” it said in a notice. Comments are due April 22.
Huawei was involved in illegally sending U.S.-origin computer equipment to Iran, according to a March 2 Reuters report. Reuters said it reviewed two Huawei “packing lists” from 2010 that show Huawei sent equipment made by Hewlett-Packard Co. destined for Iran’s largest mobile phone carrier. The documents provide the “strongest documentary evidence to date” of Huawei violating U.S. sanctions despite claims from Huawei that it has not violated sanctions, Reuters said.
In the Feb. 25 - March 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: