Huawei will remain on the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List but "we've opened the door, relaxed a bit the licensing requirements from the Commerce Department where there are not national security influences or consequences," White House Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said at a CNBC Capital Exchange event July 9. For example, "some of the chip companies would be permitted to sell on a limited basis to Huawei," he said. Those may be parts for "general merchandise" that ends up in countries "where we don't hold any great cachet," such as South Korea or Vietnam, he said. "That's the sort of thing that will be opened up that was closed." Kudlow also noted that China and the U.S. aren't far apart in their trade talks, but said that sometimes the last pieces can be the most difficult to resolve. China has resisted U.S. requests for change in Chinese laws and for enforcement provisions, he said.
China’s National Medical Products Administration issued guidelines for the imports of reference products of biomedicines for clinical trials, according to a July 5 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Among the key points in the guidelines, China is urging applicants to import “original drugs already approved by China for general import” when they conduct “equivalence tests on their proposed biosimilar products.” In addition, if the location where the imported drug was produced differs “from that of the drug previously approved for import,” the applicant is required to “demonstrate the consistency of the drug across its various production bases or conduct research to establish such consistency,” the report said. In either case, the applicant must submit a “supplemental application” to the NMPA’s Center for Drug Evaluation. Drugs that are sourced from an “unapproved location” will not be allowed as part of a clinical trial until the center “has duly accredited it,” the report said.
China and the U.S. have agreed that China has until the end of the year to come into compliance with a World Trade Organization panel ruling on how it administers its tariff rate quotas for wheat, corn and rice. The WTO said that the fact that state-trading enterprises are given specific shares of the lower-duty import quotas, but that those enterprises don't always use all of the quotas nor is the unused portion reallocated to other buyers, means that China restrains the filling of its tariff rate quotas. The notice that the two countries agreed on a compliance timeline was circulated at the WTO on July 4.
The Commerce Department posted an updated version of its "Foreign Retaliation Product Scope Matrix" that lists U.S. goods that are included in various countries' retaliatory tariffs. The list includes the affected subheadings and which country's tariffs include the subheadings. The list includes the retaliatory measures by China, the EU, India, Turkey and Russia.
Canadian trade officials are exploring ways to gain more foreign market access for their pork and beef exporters, specifically in China, according to a July 3 press release. Canada said it is working “to restore full market access for Canadian products to China” while also pursuing its trade diversification strategy. Canadian agriculture and trade officials met with representatives from the country’s pork and beef industry “to ensure that they will be able to sell their high quality products in as many global markets as possible,” the press release said. In a statement, Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr said “re-opening market access” for Canadian meat exports to China “is a top priority.” The meeting came about a week after Canada announced it was injecting an additional $100 million into its “CanExport program,” which helps small and medium-sized businesses “access new export opportunities by diversifying into new markets,” according to a June 27 press release.
Hong Kong recently signed mutual recognition arrangements on authorized economic operator programs with Canada (see 1907010035) and Israel, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) said in a June 29 press release. Under the agreements, Hong Kong will recognize members of Canadian and Israeli AEO programs for customs clearance facilitation purposes, and Hong Kong AEOs will receive reciprocal treatment in Canada and Israel, the release said. “The inspection rate for AEO cargoes is generally 80 per cent lower compared with that for non-AEO cargoes,” C&ED said. The two MRAs mean Hong Kong now has a total of 11 with countries around the world, including China, India, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
The Commerce Department will continue its presumption of denial policy for license applications for exports to Huawei, a Commerce spokesperson said July 3, adding that the China tech company remains on Commerce’s Entity List. Commerce will review export license applications for “their national security impacts” and plans to review licenses “under the highest national security scrutiny,” the spokesperson said.