Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., reintroduced a bill Feb. 7 that would control exports of certain “national interest technology or intellectual property” to China.
The U.S. needs to expand its export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment to focus on "foundational" chips and not just advanced ones, policy analyst Dmitri Alperovitch said.
President Donald Trump's recent executive order halting prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act likely won't change the behavior of many companies, given the risk of prosecution globally or in the U.S. after Trump leaves office, lawyers said.
The U.S. should encourage Latin American countries to stop using Chinese-made surveillance equipment at their ports, a lawmaker and a researcher said during a congressional hearing Feb. 11.
The European Commission on Feb. 11 imposed antidumping duties on biodiesel from China following an investigation showing that Chinese biodiesel is harming the EU industry. The duties range from 10% to 35.6% but exclude imports of aviation biofuels known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
The European Commission this week issued new guidance with an updated list of territories that are “temporarily occupied” by Russia and subject to certain sanctions and trade restrictions. The list, published by Ukrainian authorities, is meant to help traders and other EU “operators” determine which areas in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are subject to restrictions because they’re under control by Russia instead of by Ukraine. “Considering the fluid situation, a dynamic assessment of this control could be necessary,” the commission said. “In case of doubt, EU operators can reach out to their national competent authority.”
The EU this week said it plans to retaliate against President Donald Trump’s decision to increase tariffs on steel and aluminum. “Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered,” European Commission President Ursula Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “They will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures.”
Australia this week launched a review of its free trade agreements in Southeast Asia to assess whether it should upgrade any of those deals, including by examining whether their market access commitments are still “commercially meaningful,” the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. It also said it’s looking at whether the FTAs support Australia's “trade diversification agenda, strengthen our economic integration with Southeast Asia, and bolster our supply chain resilience.”
President Donald Trump on Feb. 10 instructed the attorney general to cease from opening any new investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for 180 days so that the Office of the Attorney General can issue new guidelines for FCPA enforcement that "prioritize American interests" and U.S. "economic competitiveness." In the order, Trump said the FCPA has been "abused" and "impedes the United States' foreign policy objectives."
The House of Representatives voted 408-0 late Feb. 10 to pass a bill that would give companies more time to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires them to submit information on who owns and controls them to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.