Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department released its exemption process for “air trans[s]hipment cargo of specified strategic commodities” for 2020, Hong Kong said in an Oct. 8 notice. The TID is inviting “eligible parties” -- including carriers, airlines, ground handling agents and freight forwarders -- to apply for the exemptions by Nov. 8. The exemption scheme will waive certain license requirements and will issue applicants a “Certificate of Exemption” valid until Dec. 31, 2020, the TID said.

Certain manufacturers in China are eligible for value-added tax refunds for the filing period that began July 1, 2019, “and for subsequent filing periods,” according to an Oct. 8 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The move is aimed to boost the development of China’s advanced manufacturing industries, the report said. The refund can be used by companies with a majority of total sales coming from “non-metal mineral products, general equipment, special equipment, computers, communications and other electronic equipment,” the HKTDC said.

The Congressional Research Service released a report on Oct. 4 on Brexit and its impact on the United Kingdom's trade agreements, the European Union Customs Union and the U.K.'s relationship with the U.S. The report also explains possible scenarios under a no-deal Brexit, how it will affect the EU’s economy and what the U.S. Congress would need to do in order to agree to a trade deal with the U.K. post-Brexit.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Oct. 7 released its report to Congress on defense-related exports licensed under section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act during 2018. The report contains an overview that details categories and subcategories of the U.S. Munitions List in the report and an appendix with a list of which countries received the exports, including their value and quantity. The exports had an “authorized value” of about $63.4 billion, according to the appendix.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., at the end of a short trip to Mexico aimed at assessing that country's “ability to follow through on promised reforms” issued a statement that contained a not-too-veiled warning to the Mexican government that is eager for U.S. Congress to ratify the new NAFTA. “Our meeting with President López Obrador shed further light on the Mexican government’s desire and intentions to carry out its labor justice reform, but the United States needs to see those assurances put into action,” the statement said.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. and China “could do something very substantial” when Chinese officials travel to Washington for trade talks this week, but he dismissed the idea of a partial deal.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), a migrant songbird that breeds in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario, from the Endangered Species List, it said in a final rule. Threats to the species have been "eliminated or reduced to the point where it no longer meets the definition of an endangered species or a threatened species," FWS said. The delisting takes effect Nov. 8.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 30 - Oct. 4 in case they were missed.

Chinese technology companies and the country’s foreign ministry criticized the U.S.’s decision to add 28 Chinese entities to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, a move that could lead to countermeasures, China said. China denied the allegations in Commerce’s announcement that it was involved in human rights violations of the country's Uighur population and urged the U.S. to “immediately” withdraw the Entity List additions, which it called “serious violation[s]” of international norms. “China will continue to take firm and powerful measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said during an Oct. 8 press conference, according to an unofficial translation of a transcript.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Information Technology Industry Council and 25 other trade groups, including groups from Africa, Asia, South America and Europe, have issued a position paper on what they'd like to see in the plurilateral E-Commerce Agreement at the World Trade Organization. The U.S. and China are both in these talks, and some are concerned that China will oppose what business groups describe as high-standard planks, such as prohibiting data localization and no restrictions on cross-border data flows.