Women who advocate for businesses in the EU and in the U.S. complained that while the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council is better than nothing, it has neglected the "trade" part of its title.
Exports to China
China criticized a resolution passed by the European Parliament last week that urged the EU to sanction Chinese officials involved in the forced assimilation of Tibetan children into Chinese government-run boarding schools (see 2312150060), saying the resolution contained “disinformation.” Human rights conditions in Tibet “are better than ever,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a Dec. 19 press conference, adding that it’s “entirely up to the students and their parents whether to go to boarding schools or not.”
The European Commission on Dec. 20 opened an antidumping investigation on biodiesel from China following a complaint from EU biodiesel producers. Those producers submitted evidence of biodiesel imports from China coming in at "artificially low prices," the commission said, adding that the producers said the imports are "seriously harming their industry because they cannot compete with such low prices." The EU biodiesel industry is worth nearly $34 billion annually, the commission said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Turkish duties on a host of U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trump's Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs violate World Trade Organization commitments, a WTO dispute panel ruled Dec. 19. The panel said the duties violate articles I and II of the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and also found that the Section 232 duties are not "safeguards."
The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 companies and four people with ties to Iran’s unmanned drone program, including Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, the Iranian-based leader of the network who helped illegally procure hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of U.S. and foreign-made components to Iran. Along with the new sanctions, DOJ charged Ardakani and his accomplice, China-based Gary Lam, for violating U.S. export controls.
A former State Department official who advised on sanctions and money laundering, who also is a co-founder of Sayari Labs, a financial intelligence and commercial data provider, said that Hudson Institute will produce a paper on creating a broad sanctions program for China, complete with the kind of language that would allow it to be executive-order ready.
A group of 15 House and Senate members wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Dec. 18 asking whether the Department of Defense played a role in approving the export of U.S. technology to Chinese drone manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).
U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said he hears a lot from farmers, ranchers and those in the fishing industry, and reminded those listening to a talk he gave at the Brookings Institution last week that about 20% of agricultural exports are sent to China.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 13 Chinese companies to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. If BIS is unable to complete an end-use check on those companies within 60 days, it can move them to the more restrictive Entity List.