China won't impose provisional antidumping duties on imports of EU brandy even after determining European companies are dumping brandy in the Chinese market, the country’s commerce ministry announced Aug. 29, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry, which launched the AD probe in January, said its domestic brandy industry “was threatened with substantial damage” and that it found “there was a causal relationship between the dumping and the threat of substantial damage.” It added: “No temporary anti-dumping measures will be taken in this case.” The ministry is accepting public comments on its decision for 10 days.

Canada will soon impose a 100% import tariff on all Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on certain Chinese steel and aluminum products, moves that will protect its auto industry from what it said are Beijing’s “unfair, non-market policies and practices.”

China renewed its antidumping duties on imports of halogenated butyl rubber from the U.S., the EU, the U.K. and Singapore, the country’s commerce ministry announced Aug. 20, according to an unofficial translation. The duties, originally imposed in 2018, range from 23.1% to 75.5%. The rubber is mainly used in tubeless tires, heat-resistant inner tubes, medicinal bottle stoppers, shockproof pads, adhesives and sealing materials, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said.

China this week launched an investigation on whether certain imported dairy products from the EU unfairly benefit from subsidies and should face additional duties, the country’s commerce ministry said, according to an unofficial translation. The probe will look into imports of certain fresh cheese, processed cheese and curd, including blue cheese and milk and cream with a fat content of more than 10%, China said.

The European Commission is cutting planned countervailing duties on Tesla vehicles imported from China by more than 10% and slightly lowering CVD on other EVs made by Chinese companies, it announced in draft definitive findings released Aug. 20.

A new rule issued by the State Department last week will finalize an exemption for defense trade between the U.S., Australia and the U.K., potentially removing export control barriers for a range of items that had previously faced strict license requirements under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Australia and the U.K. said the exemption and other AUKUS changes are expected to lift restrictions on billions of dollars worth of exports each year and eliminate hundreds of export licenses once the “license free” trade begins next month.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week fined a Pennsylvania electronics business and its Hong Kong affiliate $5.8 million after the company voluntarily disclosed and admitted to illegally shipping controlled technology to China, including to military research institutes on the Entity List. The company, TE Connectivity Corporation, had “knowledge or reason to know” that the shipments violated U.S. export controls, BIS said, adding that its employees in China hid the true end-users and bypassed the company’s denied-party screening process.

China officially requested dispute consultations with the EU on its provisional countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles, the World Trade Organization announced Aug. 14. China said the duties and general CVD investigation violate Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, which covers antidumping and countervailing duties, and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.

Canada is considering new measures to strengthen its export controls, tariffs and other trade-related enforcement powers as it analyzes whether it has tools powerful enough to protect against threats to its economic and national security.

The U.K. this week updated its antidumping duties on high fatigue performance steel concrete rebar from China to "reflect updated commodity codes." The duties range from 18.4% to 22.5%, with all non-individually examined exporters receiving the 22.5% rate. The U.K. Global Tariff commodity codes applicable are as follows: