South Korea is trying to increase domestic production of “key materials and parts” to reduce its reliance on trade with Japan, according to an Aug. 9 South Korea Ministry of Trade press release. Sung Yun-mo, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, met with state-run research institutions on Aug. 8 at the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology to discuss how the country can increase production. The meeting comes amid a trade dispute between Japan and South Korea in which Japan announced export restrictions on three chemicals used for the manufacturing of smart chips and other technologies.
India is considering raising import taxes on “green energy equipment” in an effort to give Indian manufacturers and companies an advantage over cheap imports, according to an Aug. 9 report from the India Brand Equity Foundation. China has “commanded” the market for solar components, the report said, which prompted India to impose in July 2018 a “safeguard obligation” on solar cells and modules imported from China and Malaysia. But India is considering strengthening those measures, the report said, citing Anand Kumar, secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The International Chamber of Commerce is preparing to eliminate the Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) rule in its September publishing of revised incoterms, requiring e-commerce traders to update contracts with third-party providers, according to a recent report from PircewaterhouseCoopers. Incoterms (international commercial terms) are internationally recognized trade terms used in global trade contracts.
A Lebanese businessman was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $50 million for violating U.S. sanctions and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Justice Department said in an Aug. 8 press release. Kassim Tajideen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to “launder monetary instruments” after the Justice Department said his network of Lebanese and African businesses helped finance Hezbollah.
The director of research for the People's Bank of China criticized the U.S.’s decision to list China as a currency manipulator, saying the U.S. has deviated from its own standards and insisting that China does not use its exchange rate as a “tool to deal with trade disputes.” “The US has unreasonably labeled China as a ‘currency manipulator,’ triggering financial market turmoil, and will greatly hinder international trade and global economic recovery, and ultimately will suffer from its own consequences,” research director Wang Xin said during an Aug. 6 Chinese State Council press conference, according to an unofficial translation.
Switzerland renewed sanctions against 18 Venezuelan senior government officials who were sanctioned by the country in March 2018, according to an Aug. 5 notice from Switzerland’s Federal Department of Economic Affairs and an Aug. 9 post from the European Union Sanctions blog. The renewals took effect Aug. 7.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee appears to be among the advisory committees that aren't eligible for elimination under a recent executive order. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June that directed all federal departments and agencies to eliminate one-third of their current Federal Advisory Committee Act-authorized committees by Sept. 30 (see 1906170021). Committees authorized by statute aren't eligible for elimination and, according to a search on the FACA database, there are 22 trade-focused committees that are required by statute.
China's newly announced Shanghai Free Trade Zone will continue “regardless” of its trade relationship with the U.S., China’s Vice Commerce Minister and top trade negotiator Wang Shouwen said during an Aug. 6 press conference, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript from it.
The White House is delaying decisions on Huawei export licenses after China announced it was suspending purchases of U.S. agricultural products, Bloomberg reported Aug. 8. President Donald Trump announced in June that the U.S. planned to loosen restrictions on Huawei, but that promise was contingent on China increasing U.S. agricultural purchases, Bloomberg said. In an Aug. 1 tweet, Trump said China is not buying enough agricultural goods and announced a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Stephen Vaughn, a King & Spalding lawyer and former general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, will join the advisory board to the Coalition for a Prosperous America, the group said in an Aug. 8 news release. Also new to the advisory board is real estate executive David Lynn, CPA said. According to its website, CPA "is working for a new and positive U.S. trade policy that delivers prosperity and security to America, its citizens, farms, factories and working people."