The World Trade Organization on Sept. 16 released South Korea’s most recent complaint against Japan in which it requests consultations over the two sides’ trade dispute. The document, dated Sept. 11, outlines South Korea’s issues with Japan’s export restrictions on three chemicals used in the manufacturing of smartphones, TV displays and semiconductors. South Korea said Japan’s restrictions were politically motivated and “unrelated to any legitimate export control considerations.” South Korea also said Japan’s additional moves, including its decision to remove South Korea from a list of trusted trading partners, has caused “unnecessary delay” and “increased scrutiny” for products destined for South Korea. South Korea said it hopes to find a “mutually acceptable date for consultations” with Japan to address the issues.

Indonesia will ban nickel exports beginning Jan. 1, 2020, instead of the originally proposed date in 2022, according to a Sept. 17 blog post by Baker McKenzie. The ban, announced by the country’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, will “apply to all different types of nickel” and not “just nickel ore with certain percentages,” the post said. The ban is expected to be cleared by Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights before taking effect, the post said.

A U.S. decoupling from China would be a mistake, China’s U.S. ambassador said, criticizing what he called the U.S.’s alarmist foreign policy and its “wrong rationale” for starting a trade war with China. Ambassador Cui Tiankai said decoupling may not even be possible because of the “inseparable links” between the two countries. “And considering China’s advantages in cost, market and supply chain and its growing edge in innovation, to decouple from China is to decouple from opportunities,” Cui said, speaking Sept. 17 in New York.

China is planning to strengthen its export controls through a new law that may be implemented this year, according to a Sept. 16 Lexology post from AnJie Law Firm.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer asking him to prioritize the removal of Section 232 retaliatory tariffs from India, which have resulted in a 70 percent tariff on U.S. apples in that country. Before the U.S. hit Indian steel with 25 percent tariffs, U.S. apples were taxed at 50 percent in India. India held off on retaliation for more than a year, but when the U.S. announced it would terminate India's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, it responded in kind (see 1906170053).

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will increase sanctions on Iran after his administration suggested Iran was behind an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities.

Legislative discussions continue for how to shape legislation in order to regain control of trade policy from the Trump administration as the legislative branch is further pushed to the sidelines, a former senior U.S. trade negotiator said. Barbara Weisel, former assistant U.S. trade representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said Congress is beginning to question how it can retake its constitutionally granted powers over trade, which have been overtaken by the Trump administration and its preference for bilateral negotiations. “One has to believe there are many members of Congress now who are debating and quietly discussing how they are going to adjust this issue,” Weisel said during a Sept. 17 event at the Brookings Institution in Washington, focused on the "America First" trade policy with regard to Japan and Taiwan. “And I think it’s about time.”

The Treasury Department released its proposed regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, granting expanded authorities to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, Treasury said in a Sept. 17 press release.

The International Trade Administration announced five upcoming trade missions to beheld between November 2019 and April 2020. In November, ITA will lead an additive manufacturing trade mission to Europe, “designed to help export-ready U.S. companies launch or increase their export business in the rapidly advancing AM and 3D printing industries of France, Germany, and Poland.” Then, in February, an “envirotech executive service mission” will head to India to promote the wastewater industry, followed by an optional “Gold Key Service” in Mumbai or Hyderabad. Then, in March, ITA will lead the “Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) Business Development Mission’ to Indonesia and Vietnam for the energy industry. Finally, in April 2020, it will lead a cross-industry trade mission to Asia in conjunction with the Trade Winds Business Forum in Hong Kong.

In the Sept. 17 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: