Imposing sanctions and export controls on certain people and entities in Hong Kong for human rights violations may not achieve the U.S.’s goal and may only hurt U.S. companies, said William Reinsch, an international business chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Exports to China
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, wants to ratify NAFTA 2.0, and believes the House will vote to do so in November or December. But in a speech Sept. 26 at the American Security Project, he told Mexican diplomats in the audience that they need to add more money to their labor budget.
In the Sept. 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
U.S. exporters reported sales of 581,000 metric tons of soybeans to China since Sept. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Sept. 25. The sales are for delivery during the 2019/2020 marketing year, which started Sept. 1. The sales report came as China said it would begin buying U.S. agricultural products, including pork and soybeans, in response to President Donald Trump’s two-week postponement of tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this month (see 1909120046).
Two Hong Kong bills that could affect trade with the Chinese territory passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee Sept. 25. H.R. 4270, the PROTECT Hong Kong Act, would ban the export of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to Hong Kong, so that U.S. companies aren't complicit with crackdowns on protestors (see 1909190040).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 25 announced sanctions on two subsidiaries of COSCO Shipping Corporation and clarified that the designation does not apply to their parent company or any of other COSCO affiliates. In total, OFAC announced sanctions on five people and six entities and issued a new Frequently Asked Questions document.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 25 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 16-20 in case they were missed.
A bipartisan group of senators asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to secure better access for pecan exporters to India as the two countries negotiate a trade deal. In a Sept. 20 letter, the senators urged Lighthizer to work to remove the “existing barriers” pecan exporters are facing, including a 36 percent Indian import tariff, compared with 10 percent tariffs on pistachios and almonds.
Mid-level negotiations between Chinese negotiators and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative staffers on Sept. 19 and 20 were productive, USTR announced after the close of business on Sept. 20. "The United States looks forward to welcoming a delegation from China for principal-level meetings in October," the announcement said.