New export controls over U.S. persons’ support for certain foreign military, intelligence and security services activities would place too much strain on both the government and industry compliance departments, disadvantage American exporters compared with their foreign competitors, and may provide no clear benefit to U.S. national security, companies and trade groups told the Bureau of Industry and Security.

Sean Stein, former U.S. consul general in Shanghai and chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, will replace retiring U.S.-China Business Council President Craig Allen, the council announced Sept. 10. Stein, who also is a senior adviser with Covington, will take over as president in November. He brings “the policy and business expertise, experience, and gravitas needed to lead the council forward at a time of great complexity in the US-China relationship,” said Raj Subramaniam, USCBC board chair and FedEx CEO.

The House approved several export control-related bills late Sept. 9, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely (see 2409040046).

China’s commerce ministry met with industry officials last week to discuss possibly raising import duties on large-engine cars, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 23 ministry notice. China said the meeting featured “representatives from relevant industry organizations, research institutions and automobile companies," where China listened to their "opinions and suggestions on increasing tariffs on large-displacement fuel vehicles." The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said in May that Beijing was considering the tariffs, which could be imposed on exporters from the U.S. and the EU in response to increased duties recently announced by both governments on imports of Chinese electric vehicles (see 2405140008 and 2408200020).

The U.K. this week updated its Russia guidance to add another type of evidence companies can use to prove their imported diamonds don’t violate sanctions against Russia.

China may consider raising import tariffs on cars from the EU, the U.S. and possibly elsewhere, the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU said this week.

EU industry gave a wide range of feedback on the European Commission’s January white paper on export controls, saying they support the idea of a new EU-wide forum to coordinate on export restrictions and urged the commission to do more to make sure new controls are introduced evenly across all member states. Others said the EU should set binding deadlines for licensing decisions, fix the bloc’s “vague” export definition for intangible technology transfers, and make it easier for companies to navigate EU member states’ increasingly conflicting export rules.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer highlighted U.S. and European cooperation on sanctions and export controls while speaking at the Transatlantic Business Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and BusinessEurope, and said their governments are working on more ways to punish Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed to Chinese officials last week that the U.S. is not looking to decouple the two economies but wants to see changes to Chinese market conditions that she said are hurting American firms.

Businesses are relieved by the quasi-truce between China and the U.S., consultants and lawyers said on a trade panel last week, but those in the tech sectors expect more restrictions are coming in the near future.