South Africa recently revised its rules on client accreditation for Authorized Economic Operators, which will have implications for exporters and importers operating as AEOs, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Sept. 7. The new rules establish two “status levels” for accredited AEO clients. Level 1 traders will benefit from “fewer documentary and physical inspections,” expedited inspections, priority tariff and valuation-determination requests and more; Level 2 operators are eligible for all Level 1 benefits plus additional ones, including “priority applications,” certain fee exemptions and customs supervision exemptions. South Africa’s Accreditation Committee will consider applicants, which must undergo an “assessment to check customs laws and procedures competency,” HKTDC said. Approved applicants will be issued a certificate valid for five years.
As the U.S. continues to bolster and reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., industry lawyers have seen a sharp rise over the last few years in global foreign direct investment screening regimes. That trend may continue to accelerate, some said.
Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee, including Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., told U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the agriculture secretary that they are dissatisfied with progress toward dismantling trade barriers to biotech crops in China and Mexico. Their letter, signed by eight committee members, says that when countries like China and Mexico don't allow the imports of these crops, that decision has "a chilling effect on global adoption and commercialization of new technologies. As a result, farmers at home and abroad are forced to choose between innovative technologies or access to foreign markets."
The Commerce Department’s delay in issuing emerging and foundational technology controls may not be hampering U.S. foreign investment reviews as much as some lawmakers have suggested, trade lawyers said. Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. doesn’t yet have a clear set of Commerce-defined critical technologies to target, that has not slowed down CFIUS from catching non-notified deals in critical technology sectors, the lawyers said in interviews, especially those involving semiconductors (see 2109010051).
China's ambassador said that if the Senate's China package or the EAGLE Act that passed the House become law, " they will hijack China-U.S. relations and gravely damage America's own interests." Qin Gang, who spoke at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Aug. 31, said these bills were formed out of misunderstanding China, disinformation about China, and "no knowledge."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave advice to Congress in July and August on how to shape legislation that Congress is calling a "polluter import fee," which most call a carbon border adjustment tax. On Sept. 2, it published its reaction to one bill on the table, the Coons-Peters bill, although Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has not said that the Coons bill will be the starting point for legislation he wishes to advance as part of the "soft infrastructure package" Congress is trying to write this fall (see 2108100031). Just before leaving for the August recess, Wyden said that the Senate was far from a concrete proposal, and that any proposal must get the support of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Manchin represents a state where coal mining is the third-largest industry.
The proposed merger between Magnachip Semiconductor and Wise Road Capital (see 2106150039) was likely never going to avoid U.S. scrutiny, a trade lawyer said, and it is puzzling why the two companies didn’t voluntarily submit a declaration to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Scott Flicker, who advises clients on CFIUS matters for Paul Hastings, said the decision was either a mistake or a calculated decision by the two companies’ lawyers.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. plans to refer a heavily scrutinized transaction to President Joe Biden after it couldn’t identify measures to mitigate the deal’s national security risks. The proposed acquisition of South Korea-based Magnachip Semiconductor Corp. by Beijing-based Wise Road Capital (see 2106150039) could damage U.S. national security, CFIUS told both companies Aug. 27, according to Magnachip’s Aug. 30 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Although Magnachip and Wise Road had proposed mitigation measures to CFIUS, the committee said it couldn’t agree to any measures that “would adequately mitigate the identified risks.”
After talks with the Commerce Department broke down over when Hong Kong-based apparel company Changji Esquel Textile (CJE) could be dropped from the agency's entity list, CJE resumed its litigation against the designation in federal court. The company, part of the Esquel group, on Aug. 27 filed a motion to re-set a hearing on a preliminary injunction against its placement on the list.
The Commerce Department hasn’t been able to move forward on its routed export rule because it is awaiting confirmation of political appointees in the Bureau of Industry and Security, according to a document recently posted by CBP. The rule, which has seen several delays, involves “critical issues that need attention” from BIS appointees, the document said. President Joe Biden recently nominated Alan Estevez to lead BIS (see 2107130004) and Thea Kendler to be assistant secretary for export administration (see 2107280063), but neither has had a confirmation hearing scheduled.