The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 15 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
China announced tariff-rate quotas for fertilizer imports for 2020, according to a Nov. 15 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. China will set its quotas at 3.3 million tons of urea, 6.9 million tons of diamond phosphate and 3.45 million tons of compound fertilizers. The TRQ will be 1 percent for all three items, HKTDC said. Chinese authorities will accept applications and issue certificates for the quotas starting Dec. 15.
China criticized a Nov. 14 U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission report that called for more export controls against China and more support for Taiwan, saying the commission’s report is inaccurate. “The committee you mentioned is deeply entrenched in prejudice against China. Its reports are rarely based on facts,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 15. “I have no interest in commenting.” The report also provided details on “harassment” tactics employed by China against U.S. companies, including unannounced site investigations and unwarranted tax investigations (see 1911140050).
Two Chinese citizens were charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after bribing Chinese officials, the Justice Department said Nov. 14. Yanliang Li and Hongwei Yang, who held leadership positions at a Chinese subsidiary of an “international multi-level marketing company,” paid bribes to retain operating licenses in China and to suppress government investigations and negative media reports about their company, the agency said.
A top State Department official will advocate for U.S. aerospace technology companies at the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai Air Show Nov. 17-19, the State Department said in a Nov. 14 press release. R. Clarke Cooper, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, will hold meetings on “defense trade issues” with senior officials from the UAE and other countries, the State Department said. Cooper, along with senior representatives from the Defense and Commerce departments, also plans to meet with industry executives “to promote and advocate for more than 200 U.S. companies exhibiting the latest aerospace technologies.” Allowing allies to “more easily obtain” U.S. defense goods improves U.S. national security, the press release said.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security updated its International Import Certificate on Oct. 31 to reflect several changes, including an amendment that extends the validity of the certificate from six months to 24 months after the date of issue. The IIC certifies to the U.S. that the importer will only re-export their goods in compliance with U.S. export controls
An Iranian businessman was sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegally exporting carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said Nov. 14. Behzad Pourghannad worked with two others between 2008 and 2013 to export the carbon fiber to Iran from third countries using falsified documents and front companies, the agency said.
A 10-year extension of the Export-Import Bank passed the House of Representatives by a 235-184 vote on Nov. 15, with 13 Republicans voting yes and 4 Democrats voting no. The bill, which would increase lending capacity to $175 billion and make sure that large deals could be done even if senators block appointees to the board, has drawn a veto threat from the White House. The Ex-Im Bank's authority expires Nov. 21, but it's expected to get a short-term extension as part of a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. The House and the Senate have not been able to agree on any funding bills yet, so the entire government is funded through a continuing resolution.
Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks, the National Taxpayers Union and 16 other groups sent a letter Nov. 15 to every member of Congress urging them to reject pension reform legislation that has been talked about as a possible companion to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement implementing bill (see 1910160054). "Attaching any of them to other legislation, from must-pass appropriations to the USMCA trade agreement, is unacceptable," the groups said.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who leads the working group negotiating with the U.S. trade representative over the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, said he anticipates that USTR Robert Lighthizer will send over text of the changes to the agreement next week. Neal said he spoke with Lighthizer Nov. 14, to tell him he'd be forwarding “a series of, we think, could be make-or-break issues, and that we hoped that he would digest them and then respond to us, fast."