The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 31 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
The Commerce Department again postponed the first meeting of its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee and may not reschedule it until March, a Commerce official said. The meeting, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 4, 2019,was initially postponed to January as the agency faced delays in issuing members their security clearances (see 1911200045). But the problem persisted, according to Anita Zinzuvadia, a licensing officer with the Bureau of Industry and Security, who said Commerce canceled the January meeting.
In the Jan. 23-28 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as he talked about attending the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signing ceremony, acknowledged that there are a number of steps before the NAFTA replacement can come into force. He said on a Jan. 28 phone call with reporters that he thinks Canada will ratify “probably within the next 30 days,” but then all parties will have to show how they “will be able to carry out their USMCA obligations so that this can enter into force.” Here at home, uniform regulations for the new rules of origin have to be promulgated before the U.S. can certify it's ready for USMCA. Still, Grassley said, Trump will be running his re-election campaign on replacing NAFTA. “I'm glad he can say that, and I'm willing to say it for him, too,” he said. “He likes to brag, and this is legitimately something to brag about.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Jan. 21-24 in case you missed them.
In a letter to the Defense Department, Sens. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said they are concerned about reports that the agency objected to a proposed rule from the Commerce Department that would have further restricted foreign sales to Huawei. The senators asked the Defense Department to provide information within 60 days about whether the agency objected to the rule, its rationale for doing so and how its objection impacts the agency’s “simultaneous attempts” to prevent allies to reject Huawei technology.
The Commerce Department withdrew a proposed rule that would have further restricted foreign sales to Huawei that contain U.S.-origin goods, according to a Jan. 24 report in The Wall Street Journal. Commerce officials withdrew the rule from the Office of Management and Budget after objections from both the Defense and Treasury departments over concerns that the rule could hurt U.S. companies and U.S. national security interests, the report said. The Pentagon specifically voiced concerns that the rule could deprive U.S. companies of an important source of revenue they need for research and development to maintain a technological edge over China, the report said. The rule would have lowered the U.S.-origin threshold on exports to Huawei to 10 percent, but required the State, Commerce, Defense and Energy departments to approve with input from the Treasury, the report said.
Kenya will issue guidance for certain imports and plans to simplify tax incentives for companies operating in the country’s special economic zones in upcoming regulations, according to a Jan. 21 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. A draft version of the regulations clarified how tax incentives can be applied to the movement of goods and services within the zones, the report said. The final regulations will “make clear” that no customs import duties will be applied to imports of goods into the zones, “regardless of whether they are for purposes of storage, exhibition, assembly, manufacture, further processing, or re-exporting,” the HKTDC said. No “trade-related restrictions” will be applied to any imports into the zones, the report said, and companies will not be subject to “minimum export requirements,” minimum quotas or “quantitative restrictions” when selling goods that originate in the zone, the report said. The comment period for the regulations ended Jan. 15, and Kenya has not yet released a date for final publication.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a Jan. 23 guidance on the final rules for the transfer of gun export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department, including a clarification on license submissions during the transition period. The guidance also clarifies how the rules and transition period affect technical assistance agreements, manufacturing license agreements, reporting requirements, commodity jurisdiction determinations and regulatory oversight responsibilities. The rules -- which were published Jan. 23 and transfer export control authority from the State Department to Commerce for a range of firearms, ammunition and other defense items -- will take effect March 9 (see 2001170030).
China held its first round of trade negotiations with Cambodia in Beijing, Jan. 20-21, China’s commerce ministry said Jan. 21, according to an unofficial translation. The two countries discussed trade in goods, rules of origin, improving customs procedures, reducing “technical barriers” to trade and improving phytosanitary measures. The two sides recently completed a “joint feasibility study” for the free trade negotiation, China said.