China told India not to block Huawei Technologies from operating in the country and threatened retaliation against Indian companies, Reuters reported Aug. 6.

China unveiled on Aug. 6 its pilot plan for the new Lingang area of the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, where goods will benefit from reduced duties or tax exemptions, according to an Aug. 6 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The section will cover an area of about 75 square miles and will “match the standard of the most competitive free trade zones worldwide,” Xinhua said. The zone will encourage foreign access and increase the free flow of goods, and by 2025 the Lingang area “will have a relatively mature institutional system of investment and trade liberalization and facilitation,” Xinhua said. While Xinhua did not include specific details, the zone is also expected to eliminate all duties and ease most customs procedures (see 1908050013).

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, raised the possibility that he would not be able to broker a compromise between the two approaches on restraining the president's ability to levy tariffs under Section 232. While he said his goal is to have a committee meeting in late September or early October that would take up a "Grassley-Wyden" version, he said if that can't happen, he will bring forward competing bills and allow lots of amendments to shape them.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new reporting requirements for 31 chemicals under significant new use rules. The proposed SNURs would require notification to EPA at least 90 days in advance of a new use by importers, manufacturers or processors. Importers of chemicals subject to these proposed SNURs would need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements should these proposed rules be finalized, EPA said. Exporters of these chemicals would become subject to export notification requirements. Comments on the proposed SNURs are due Sept. 5.

The United Nations on July 30 issued North Korean sanctions exemptions to two companies to allow them to export agricultural-related goods to North Korea. The two companies, Italy-based Agrotec SPA and Germany-based Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, are authorized to send North Korea goods for humanitarian purposes, including “improving food security” and the health of North Korean citizens.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 updated an entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List to include additional locations, addresses and other identifying information for Fadi Hussein Serhan. Serhan was designated in 2015 for acting as a Hizballah procurement agent and general manager of Beirut-based Vatech SARL, which he used to buy “sensitive technology and equipment for Hizballah,” according to OFAC.

The Japan-South Korea trade dispute may impact the U.S. and potentially require the intervention of U.S. export control officials, experts said during an Aug. 7 Heritage Foundation panel discussion. They also said it will be difficult for South Korea to get back on Japan’s so-called “whitelist” of preferential trading partners, a move that could hurt Japanese companies more than any other party.

The World Customs Organization released its updated Time Release Study (TRS) guide, the WCO said in a news release. "The WCO Time Release Study is a strategic and internationally recognized tool to measure the actual time required for the release and/or clearance of goods, from the time of arrival until the physical release of cargo, with a view to finding bottlenecks in the trade flow process and taking necessary measures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of border procedures," the WCO said. "The updated version of the WCO TRS Guide, known as the 'Guide to Measure the Time required for the Release of Goods (Version 3)' incorporates a number of key features/elements. It brings forward new dynamics and opportunities for Customs Administrations to work in a collaborative manner with other relevant government agencies and trade stakeholders in the arena of performance measurement."

CBP issued a notice in the Aug. 7 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 27) regarding the dates and draft agenda for the 64th Session of the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System Committee (HSC), which will meet in Brussels Sept. 18-27. Among other things, the HSC issues classification decisions on the interpretation of the Harmonized System (HS) in the form of published tariff classification opinions or amendments to the Explanatory Notes. It also considers amendments to the legal text of the HS.

In the Aug. 1-6 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: