Argentina will begin an antidumping investigation on Chinese tricycles and announced the results of three other investigations on Chinese goods, according to a Sept. 19 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Argentina’s investigation into Chinese tricycles exclude tricycles with electric motors and could result in duties on the Chinese item for five years, the report said. Argentina also determined that China has been dumping certain aluminum alloy sheet. It investigated whether certain footwear from China is circumventing AD duties by going through a Malaysia exporter and found in the affirmative, but found in an anti-circumvention AD duty review that certain sunglasses produced in Taiwan are not circumventing the AD duty order, the report said.
Japan has agreed to World Trade Organization consultations with South Korea, Japan’s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry said Sept. 20. The minister said Japan is trying to “coordinate specific schedules through diplomatic routes,” according to an unofficial translation of the transcript from a news conference, but stood by the country’s export restrictions. “Japan's previous position that it is consistent with the WTO agreement remains unchanged,” the minister said. South Korea requested WTO consultations with Japan on Sept. 11 as the two sides continued to swap restrictive trade measures dating back to July. Japan and South Korea met in Beijing in August but did not announce substantial progress after the talks (see 1908160046).
China and Russia signed several trade-related agreements when the two sides met in Russia last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a Sept. 19 press release. The two countries signed a “number of pragmatic cooperation documents” to expand trade and “voice support for the multilateral trading system,” China said, according to an unofficial translation. The two sides said they support the World Trade Organization and announced their intention to ratify an “upcoming ‘China-Eurasia Economic Union Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement,’” China said.
Cambodia’s online certificate of origin system is being expanded to two more provinces and is expected to be adopted nationwide by the end of the year, according to a Sept. 20 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The system will reduce paperwork and the time businesses spend applying for certificates at Cambodia’s commerce ministry's headquarters, the report said. The online system is expected to lower the certificate processing time from 10 to 14 days for the current manual processing to 16 hours, the HKTDC said.
The Commerce Department posted an updated version of its "China's 301 Retaliation Product Scope" that lists U.S. goods that are included in China's retaliatory tariffs. The updated list includes Chinese tariff increases that took effect Sept. 1.
Key elements of the Treasury Department’s recently released proposed regulations on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act include an expanded jurisdiction to review “non-controlling investments” and certain exemptions to reviews, Crowell Moring said in a Sept. 19 post.
Gilbert Kaplan, Commerce's undersecretary for international trade, resigned last week, a Commerce spokesperson said, declining to answer further questions. Kaplan's resignation came during an important week in trade negotiations with China as Chinese officials visited Washington to continue talks. Kaplan was confirmed to the role in 2018 after working as a trade lawyer with King & Spalding. The resignation was first reported by Bloomberg.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said that the two sides made progress again on edits to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement when they met Sept. 20. "Once issues are resolved, they're going to come off the table, and we're not going to revisit them as we proceed to the next one," Neal said. He said the Democrat working group he leads will have a written response for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer next week, when they meet again.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Iran two days after President Donald Trump instructed the Treasury to increase pressure on the country. The sanctions target the Central Bank of Iran, the National Development Fund of Iran and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co. for funding Iran’s military and contributing to terrorism, Treasury said in a Sept. 20 press release.
It may only be a matter of time before countries create a trade payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions, said David Mortlock, a trade lawyer and senior fellow with the Atlantic Council.