The trade war that President Donald Trump began with China 16 months ago is creating pain for businesses, but there's a deeper strategic mistake to consider, said Matthew Goodman, senior vice president for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Goodman, who was speaking during the first session in a Congressional Trade Series on Nov. 19, said, “I still don't know what the basic strategic goal is here." He said he didn't know whether the administration wants to get structural changes to China's economy, as it claims, or whether it wants to reduce the bilateral trade deficit, or to contain China's rise.
The U.S. will continue sanctioning Venezuela's mining sector and will increase efforts to target countries and foreign groups that support the Nicolas Maduro regime, a top Treasury Department official said.
The Commerce Department has been “slow” to complete a series of export control reviews mandated by the Export Control Reform Act, including the agency’s upcoming controls on emerging and foundational technologies, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said.
The Commerce Department’s decision to renew the temporary general license for Huawei “won't have a substantial impact on Huawei's business either way,” the company said in a Nov. 19 statement. Huawei said the 90-day reprieve (see 1911180036), which authorizes a narrow set of transactions with the U.S. despite Huawei’s placement on the Entity List, “does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly.”
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 18 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
India is hosting a Regional Contact Points meeting for the World Customs Organization’s Asia Pacific region this week to discuss trade issues, India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said Nov. 18. The meetings, taking place Nov. 18-20, feature customs delegations from more than 25 countries and will focus on greater communication and technology advancements in customs procedures.
Singapore Customs opened its new Customs Operations Command building, consolidating the agency’s intelligence, investigation and “compliance related functions” in one building, Singapore said in a Nov. 15 press release. Singapore said the building “provides modern facilities to support our enforcement operations,” including officer training. “This facility enhances the operational capability of Singapore Customs and affirms our commitment to our mission of protecting revenue, and making trade easy, fair and secure,” Director-General of Customs Ho Chee Pong said in a statement.
Thailand’s recent decision to ban three chemicals could lead to a “shutdown” in imports of several products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Nov. 18. The chemicals ban, which includes glyphosate, will “definitively” impact U.S agricultural exports to Thailand, especially soybeans, wheat, beans, pulses, fruit, vegetables and other agricultural goods, the report said. The number of crops affected could be as high as 70, based on information about chemical treatments during the production cycle, USDA said.
KPMG released an overview of Japan’s tax system on Nov. 15, detailing a range of the country’s laws that affect imports, exports, tariffs and customs. The guide contains details on measures affecting customs clearance, customs valuation, rules of origin, access to import and export data, taxes levied on importers and more.