China and New Zealand agreed to upgrade their free trade deal to improve customs facilitation, remove trade barriers and revise rules of origin procedures, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Nov. 4. China said both countries will “benefit from improved rules,” adding that the deal also includes measures on e-commerce, competition policy and increased market access for certain goods. “These results reflect the desire of both countries to ensure that the China-New Zealand FTA remains ambitious, modern and high quality … and demonstrates the commitment of both countries to free and open trade and a rules-based multilateral trading system,” China said.

An agreement on the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be signed in 2020, Thailand said, despite some countries’ hope that it would be finalized this year. Thailand, which chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said in a Nov. 3 statement that the parties are committed to signing the deal by February, according to a Nov. 3 Reuters report. The statement came after several calls for the deal to be completed this year, including from China and Japan (see 1904180052).

Four people were charged with trying to illegally export military-related goods to China, the Justice Department said Nov. 1. The four people -- Fan Yang, Yang Tang, Ge Songtao and Zheng Yan -- were involved in an attempt to illegally export seven military-style inflatable boats and eight engines to China, the Justice Department said. Yang, Ge and Zheng were also charged with filing false information in the Automated Export System, while Fan, Yang and Ge were charged with illegal arms transfer offenses, including a law that bans certain arms transfers to non-U.S. residents. Convictions for filing false export information may result in a maximum five-year prison sentence, the Justice Department said.

Indonesia and South Korea “successfully” concluded recent negotiations on a trade deal and expect to sign the agreement in early 2020, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a Nov. 4 report. The deal will allow Indonesia to export more fish and agricultural goods to South Korea while also opening its market to more South Korean industrial goods, the report said. The agreement is expected to eliminate import taxes on more than 95 percent of Indonesian exports to South Korea and 93 percent of South Korean exports to Indonesia, the HKTDC said, an increase from 90.2 percent and 80.1 percent duty free over the existing South Korea-Association of Southeast Asian Nations trade agreement, respectively. The tariff cuts will apply to steel products and auto parts but not to a “number of agricultural items currently traded between the two countries.”

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and nine government appointees of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, Treasury said Nov. 4. The sanctions target officials in Khamenei’s office, the country’s Expediency Council and the judiciary, Treasury said.

The Commerce Department will issue Huawei-related export licenses “very shortly,” Secretary Wilbur Ross said, adding that the agency has received more than 260 applications. “Those will be forthcoming very shortly,” Ross told Bloomberg on Nov. 3, declining to give a more specific time frame. Ross said in July that Commerce planned to release the licenses “within the next few weeks” (see 1907240030).

In the Oct. 30-31 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union published the 2020 edition of its Combined Nomenclature tariff schedule in the Nov. 1 Official Journal. Changes include the tariff reductions under the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, as well as amendments to tariff provisions to keep up with technological and commercial developments, the EU Commission said in its preamble to the new edition.

Singapore’s TradeNet will be down for maintenance from 4 a.m. to noon Nov. 17, Singapore Customs said in an Oct. 30 notice. Singapore is asking traders not to submit applications during that time period.

Japan implored countries to drop restrictions on Japanese food imports from Fukushima, saying the restrictions are hurting its farmers. Several countries, including South Korea, have imposed measures to guard against possible radiation contamination from food imported from Fukushima, which was the site of a nuclear power plant that was damaged by a tsunami in 2011.