U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita signed an agreement that will change the beef safeguard trigger under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement, USTR announced June 2, but the date the changes will come into force is still not known. "[B]oth countries will follow their respective domestic procedures in order for the updated agreement to enter into force," a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service release said.
China's General Administration of Customs imposed phytosanitary requirements for imports of fresh avocados from Kenya, the agency announced, according to an unofficial translation. The requirements say avocado orchards that ship their goods to China must be registered by the National Plant Health Supervision Bureau and approved for registration by the General Administration of Customs. Such registration information includes the orchard's name, address and identification code to allow for the accurate tracing of the goods' origin information.
The Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes, corrections and clarifications to its export regulations and added a host of new Russian and Belarusian entities to its Entity List, it said in notices. One change adds a license requirement for certain medicine and food shipments to the two countries, and another change allows BIS to publicize export enforcement charging letters before a case is resolved.
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended the public comment period by an additional 30 days for an information collection related to its export license application process. BIS originally requested comments by May 24 (see 2203240002).
Indonesia ended its export ban on palm oil less than four weeks after it began, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported June 1. The ban was originally put in place to reduce the domestic price of bulk cooking oil and ensure supply (see 2205110014), but the country now has more than enough cooking oil despite some still high prices, the report said. The ban had applied to crude palm oil and certain derivative products, the report said, and had caused global palm oil prices to jump by more than 200%.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 71 entities to its Entity List for supporting Russia’s military or for trying to illegally acquire U.S.-origin goods. The additions include 70 entities based in Russia and one based in Belarus, BIS said, and 66 of them are now subject to BIS’ Russia/Belarus foreign direct product rule. All the entities will require a license for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. No license exceptions will be available, and BIS will review applications under a policy of denial. Exports of certain food and medicine will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the agency said. The additions, which will be published in the Federal Register June 6, take effect June 2.
An aggressive timeline that aims to file a conference report by June 21 for the House and Senate China packages has lobbyists speculating that none of the proposals in the trade titles will be in the final bill because the two chambers are too far apart. The two chambers have relatively similar renewals of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and a big difference in their renewals of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill. Each chamber has proposals the other doesn't, such as directing the administration to reopen Section 301 exclusions (Senate only); changing antidumping and countervailing duty laws (House only); removing China's eligibility for de minimis benefits (House only); and renewing and expanding Trade Adjustment Assistance (House only).
Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina recently announced antidumping duty and countervailing duty actions and decisions on certain products from mainland China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported May 26.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week extended the comment period for an information collection relating to offset agreements worth more than $5 million for sales of weapons systems or defense articles to foreign countries or companies (see 2201130008). Comments on the information collection, originally due March 15, have been extended for an additional 30 days to June 27.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recently posted two new frequently-asked-questions under its licensing and registration guidance pages.