China released a plan this week for its Hainan free trade port, aiming to turn it into a global trading hub by eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers. The port will serve as the “frontline of China's integration into the global economic system,” according to a June 1 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The island province also will be given “more autonomy in reform … thus clearing institutional obstacles hampering the flow of production factors.” China said it hopes to establish the port by 2025. The announcement comes less than a week after the U.S. certified that Hong Kong no longer qualifies for special customs treatment under U.S. law (see 2005290047).
Exports to China
Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Ted Yoho, R-Fla., will introduce a House version of Senate legislation that would expand U.S. sanctions on Chinese efforts to meddle in Hong Kong’s autonomy (see 2005260031). The House bill, like its Senate companion, would sanction “foreign individuals” and banks supporting Chinese efforts to pass a so-called national security law in Hong Kong, according to a June 1 press release. Sherman applauded the Senate for “moving quickly” to introduce their version of the bill. “Congress must act to support the residents of Hong Kong,” he said in a statement. Yoho said the U.S. must “put pressure on Beijing to honor their past agreements.”
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security will officially add 33 companies and government agencies to the Entity List on June 5 for their roles in aiding proliferation activities and human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province, BIS said in two Federal Register notices. The notices formalize the additions, which were announced in May (see 2005220058).
A Singapore electronics manufacturer voluntarily disclosed to the Treasury Department possible U.S. sanctions violations, the company said in a May 28 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company, Flex Ltd., said the violations may have been committed by its non-U.S. affiliates and that it is conducting an internal investigation, expected to be completed “by the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2021,” so it cannot estimate possible penalties.
Panelists talking about the future of the World Trade Organization are picturing a world in which the U.S. and China continue to argue about the issues of industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises while other countries ally at the WTO to work on notifications, a binding dispute settlement process and how to share a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus around the globe.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 26-29 in case you missed them.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security corrected the formatting for an April final rule that expanded licensing requirements for certain military-related exports to China, Russia and Venezuela, according to a notice. The corrected format “publishes the full text of each revised Export Control Classification Number on the Commerce Control List,” the notice said. BIS issued the correction because the agency “felt it was easier for compliance purposes,” said Hillary Hess, BIS’s regulatory policy director, speaking during a June 2 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “It does not change the substance of the rule at all.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security will officially add 33 companies and government agencies to the Entity List on June 5 for their roles in proliferation activities and aiding human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province, BIS said in two Federal Register notices. The notices formalize the previously announced additions.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said some farmers he spoke to in his home state of Iowa told him they're concerned about trade with China. Grassley told such questioners he's not worried about the trade agreement.
China reportedly ordered its state-controlled companies to stop buying certain U.S. agricultural products after the U.S. certified last week that Hong Kong no longer qualifies for special trade treatment. The decision also came after President Donald Trump said the U.S. will sanction Chinese officials, increase export controls on dual-use technologies, and end the special customs territory in response to Beijing’s so-called national security law (see 2005290047), which the State Department said threatens Hong Kong’s autonomy (see 2005270026).