The coronavirus outbreak has had “severe” impacts on European Union companies operating in China, according to a Feb. 27 report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. The report, which surveyed more than 550 companies, said that almost 90% reported a “medium to high impact” and about half forecasted a double-digit drop in revenue for the first half of 2020. Companies routinely face “unpredictable rules, highly restrictive quarantine demands and extensive pre-conditions to restart operations,” the report said, and often experience “multiple onerous restrictions” while passing through provinces, delaying deliveries. “The patchwork of conflicting rules that emerged from the fight against COVID-19 has produced hundreds of fiefdoms, making it next to impossible to move goods … across China,” Jorg Wuttke, European Chamber president, said in a statement.

India and Indonesia hope to increase trade between their countries to $50 billion by 2025, which will include increased market access, a reduction in trade barriers and a commitment to improving agricultural trade, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 24 news release from Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry specifically requested that Indonesia allow greater market access for Indian exports of raw sugar products, buffalo meat, dairy products and rice, Indonesia said.

As the final regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act take effect this week, FIRRMA’s definition for critical technologies remains unclear due to a lack of proposed rules by the Commerce Department on emerging and foundational technologies, trade lawyers said.

The U.S and Kenya will begin negotiating a comprehensive trade deal that both sides believe will act as a model for more agreements between the U.S. and other African countries, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Feb. 6. Kenya hopes to conclude negotiations quickly, its President Uhuru Kenyatta said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, adding that the country prefers a long-term agreement that will provide U.S. and Kenyan companies with “predictable terms of engagement” in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, energy and more. Discussions on a framework for the negotiations will begin in the “next few days,” Kenyatta said.

China took a “few positive steps” to revise the draft of its export control law (see 2001100047) but should address several key areas of concern for U.S. and Chinese companies, the U.S. China Business Council said in comments released this week. The USCBC asked China to clarify the scope of its export controls and the term “national security,” provide a clearer definition for activities that are “deemed exports,” and consider more relaxed requirements for end-user statements and certificates.

The U.S.-India Business Council praised some aspects of the proposed Indian budget, but said that new tariffs (see 2001270016) on agricultural products, medical devices, auto parts, electronics and electric vehicles are concerning. “Both USIBC and the U.S. Chamber [of Commerce] have long maintained that tariffs raise prices for consumers and create friction with trade partners, ultimately inhibiting economic growth,” the organization said Feb. 2.

Despite resumed talk about tariffs on European autos, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials say they are heartened by the first signs of progress in months for trade talks between the European Union and the United States. Marjorie Chorlins, the Chamber's senior vice president of European affairs, said with a new team at the European Commission, and the positive comments after the meeting in Davos, Switzerland, between President Donald Trump and EC President Ursula von der Leyen, the business community is feeling new hope for an improvement in relations. The officials spoke during a Jan. 24 conference call.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce laid out its priorities for trade in 2020, and most of them were well-known in 2019: getting USMCA passed; ending steel and aluminum tariffs; negotiating comprehensive trade agreements with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. But lesser-known priorities are: ensuring that new regulations on foreign ownership of American firms are focused on national security issues, and arguing for a balanced approach in the regulations from the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 that protect “national security without unduly hindering legitimate commerce.” The Chamber also said Jan. 9 that it wants Congress to approve “permanent normal trade relations with Kazakhstan and its graduation from the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974.”

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming proposed rules on emerging technologies will be narrow, impacting only specific slices of technologies, according to a Dec. 17 Reuters report. Commerce is finalizing proposed rules on quantum diluted refrigerators, a rule regulating 3D printing for explosives, “Gate-All-Around Field Effect transistor technology” (GAAFET) and two rules restricting sales of chemicals used to make Russian nerve agent Novichok and “single-use chambers for chemical reactions,” Reuters said. A Commerce rule for GAAFET is in the proposed rule stage, according to a recent Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs notice. A top Commerce official recently pinpointed six categories in which the agency plans to propose the rules (see 1912160032), and BIS officials have said for months the rules will be narrow (see 1912160006, 1911200045 and 1906280057).

With the last round of consumer goods imported from China spared, and a reduction in Section 301 tariffs on about $120 billion in goods that were first subject to additional tariffs Sept. 1, some business interests welcomed the de-escalation, but warned that the U.S. should stay focused on more significant economic reforms in China. The tariffs on List 4a, which are at 15 percent and apply to about 3,800 8-digit tariff lines, will go to 7.5 percent.