Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senators repeatedly during her testimony at a Commerce Committee hearing that the conference process for the House and Senate's China packages needs to get done as soon as possible, because other countries are offering funds to chipmakers, and companies are looking to plan new plants, because demand is so high. Raimondo said she's spoken with all the American chipmakers, and it's clear to her that if Congress doesn't act, those companies will invest in Germany, Singapore, France or Spain rather than Ohio or Arizona. Raimondo said, "They want to operate in our country, but they cannot wait. They are going to build, and if we don’t act quickly with USICA, they’ll build elsewhere."
The State Department has moved “very effectively and very efficiently” to approve exports of military equipment to Ukraine since the invasion by Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken said the agency has been able to authorize some license applications in days that previously took several weeks. “This is moving quickly,” he said during an April 26 hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We have cut through a lot of red tape.”
The European Parliament has a goal of reaching an agreement with the European Council on how to structure a carbon border adjustment measure by the end of this year, but Domien Vangenechten, from the Brussels location of the E3G think tank, believes that's a "very optimistic deadline.... I'm very skeptical of that happening." He said it could take until mid-2023 or late 2023.
Canada, Mexico 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 April 26. Canada recently announced the impending expiration of its AD and CVD orders on certain Chinese fabricated industrial steel components, HKTDC said. Canada didn’t receive any submissions in support of the expiry review or the continuation of the measures, the report, and they are expected to expire May 24.
The EU issued a correction April 25 to its implementing regulation that in effect exempted three Taiwanese companies from antidumping duties imposed on imports of certain tube and pipe fittings, of iron or steel, originating in China and extended to the same products originating in Taiwan, because they were found not to be circumventing AD measures. But a second regulation had repealed the exemption for two of the companies -- Chup Hsin Enterprise and Niang Hong Pipe Fittings. This meant that the implementing regulation, as worded, incorrectly still exempted imports made by Chup Hsin and Niang Hong. The correction removes those two companies from the list of exempted companies, leaving only the third, Rigid Industries Co. Ltd., with effect from Jan. 26, 2022, from which date there will be retroactive collection of AD on imports of the fittings produced by Chup Hsin and Niang Hong. The extension also covers similar goods from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, whether declared as originating from these countries or not.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Toll Holdings, a Melbourne, Australia-based international freight and logistics company, more than $6.13 million for nearly 3,000 violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs. OFAC said Toll received illegal payments connected to sea, air and rail shipments through multiple highly sanctioned countries, including North Korea, Iran and Syria. The transactions included sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air (see 2111190006) and Iran-based Hafiz Darya Shipping Lines.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week fined Colorado-based Newmont Corp. and Florida-based Chisu International Corp. after the two mining companies bought Cuban-origin “explosives and explosive accessories” from a third-party vendor. The agency announced a $141,442 settlement with Newmont and a $45,908 settlement with Chisu for violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
Aviastar, the Russian cargo airline made subject to a temporary denial order last week (see 2204210043), continued to illegally fly multiple U.S.-origin aircraft after the U.S. in March announced restrictions on those flights (see 2203020072), including to China, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in its April 21 order. Flights included trips from the Russian cities of Novosibirsk and Abakan to the Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou. All the trips, which took place April 5 to April 12, required approved license applications.
The EU launched a partial review of the antidumping duty order on open mesh fabrics of glass fibers from China extended to imports from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, whether declared as originating from these countries or not, for the purposes of granting an exemption to one Indian exporter, the European Commission said April 21. Urja Products Private Ltd. requested an exemption from the duties, alleging it didn't export the product during the review period, April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013, used in the investigation that led to the extended measures.
The Biden administration should “employ all tools necessary” to stop Chinese-owned Nexperia’s acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab (NWF), a U.K.-based chip facility, the Republican-led China Task Force said in a letter to the White House released April 21. If the acquisition is completed, the U.S. should remove the U.K. from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. white list and impose strict export controls on shipments to NWF, the House members said.