There have been no known security breaches from Chinese-made cranes at U.S. ports, the American Association of Port Authorities said in a news release March 8. The statement came in response to a Wall Street Journal report that some U.S. officials were concerned that Chinese-made cranes, specifically cranes from Chinese company ZPMC, could be a spying tool for the Chinese government and a way for the Chinese government to disrupt the flow of goods. ZPMC now makes 80% of ship-to-shore cranes at U.S. ports, a U.S. official said, according to the report.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should “significantly” strengthen export controls against Huawei to further restrict the Chinese technology company from buying U.S.-origin items, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a March 6 letter to the agency. Although McCaul applauded its use of the Entity List and the foreign direct product rule to “curtail Huawei’s unconstrained march to dominate 5G telecommunications systems globally,” he said more should be done.
The World Trade Organization on March 7 announced chairpersons for various WTO committees. Among the WTO bodies, the General Council will be led by Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme of Botswana; the Dispute Settlement Body will be led by Petter Olberg of Norway; the Trade Policy Review Body will be chaired by Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel of Saudi Arabia; and the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights will be headed by Pimchanok Pitfield of Thailand.
The Biden administration should impose Global Magnitsky sanctions against leading Chinese surveillance company Hikvision for its role in human rights violations against Uyghurs in China, Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Gregory Meeks, D.N.Y., said this week. The lawmakers, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asked President Joe Biden to tell the committee within 120 days whether Hikvision meets criteria for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, pointing to the company’s “clear track record in enabling international recognized human rights violations in Xinjiang.”
Senators unveiled legislation this week that would give the administration new authority to block transactions with TikTok and other foreign technology products that threaten U.S. national security. The bill, which has bipartisan support and was endorsed by the White House, would require the Commerce Department to establish new procedures to prohibit or mitigate transactions involving information and communications technology products “in which any foreign adversary has any interest and poses undue or unacceptable risk to national security.”
The U.S. government, dissatisfied with the narrowing of a Mexican ban on genetically modified corn (see 2302150026), has asked for technical consultations under the USMCA's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter. A formal dispute can't be initiated without first taking this step.
The Bureau of Industry and Security approved $23 billion worth of prospective exports involving Chinese companies on the Entity List from January through March 2022, representing about 79% of all license applications it received for those companies during that time period. The data, recently released by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, shows an “unacceptable” amount of approvals, the lawmaker said.
Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and John Thune, R-S.D., recently introduced a bill called Undertaking Negotiations on Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism (United) Act, which would use the last trade promotion authority's language to authorize a free-trade negotiation with the U.K.
World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard called on the EU to quickly ratify the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, saying it "would help us create significant positive momentum and encourage other members to expedite" their process. "We look to you, as leaders in the quest for a sustainable blue economy, to complete your ratification process and deposit the EU's instrument of acceptance quickly, and then to implement the agreement," Ellard said during a March 1 session of the European Parliment's Committee on International Trade. She said the WTO needs two-thirds of members to "accept it as soon as possible," noting that EU ratification would be "an important step." Ellard urged the EU to "say 'yes'" and "continue with your strong leadership in the second wave of negotiations."
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 24-16 this week to advance a bill that would grant the Biden administration new authorities to ban U.S. transactions with TikTok. It also would require the president to impose certain sanctions on entities or people that transfer U.S. personal data to entities under the influence of the Chinese government. The bill, which was advanced along party lines, must still be passed by the full House and Senate before it’s sent for President Joe Biden’s signature.