The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is accepting applications for voluntary members to serve on several advisory committees and subcommittees, the bank said July 6. Open positions are available on the Ex-Im 2021-2022 Advisory Committee and the 2021-2022 Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee, and on the Advisory Committee's subcommittees Chair’s Council on Climate and Chair’s Council on China Competition. Members will advise Ex-Im on providing competitive export financing to U.S. industries. Applications are due July 30.
Changji Esquel Textile (CJE), a Hong Kong-based apparel company and part of the Esquel group of companies, filed a July 6 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to have its placement on the Commerce Department's Entity List dropped (Changji Esquel Textile Co. Ltd. et al. v. Gina M. Raimondo et al., D.C. Cir. #21-01798). The Trump administration put CJE on the list last year for alleged practices of using forced labor from the Muslim Uyghur minority population in China's Xinjiang region.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 28 - July 2 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, was cool to fellow Texas delegation member Sen. John Cornyn's proposal to study the possibility of allowing goods made in foreign-trade zones to be considered originating under USMCA.
The top trade officials in the U.S., Canada and Mexico gathered virtually to celebrate the one-year anniversary of USMCA, which is July 1, with Canadian and Mexican ministers emphasizing the worth of integrated supply chains and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai emphasizing the elements of USMCA that protect workers in the region and around the world. Tai said at a Wilson Center program June 30, "A good next step in this increased cooperation can be on the issue of forced labor. The USMCA includes a strong obligation to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Working together to address this critical economic and moral issue would send a powerful message to the world."
World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard focused on the positive in her keynote speech to the American Association of Exporters and Importers, even as she recognized the strain the COVID-19 pandemic put on trade and the rise in protectionism in recent years.
The U.S. and its allies should expand sanctions and continue cutting off China from sensitive technologies as it further undermines democracy in Hong Kong, experts and a U.S. lawmaker said. They also said the U.S. should consider making China meet certain human rights standards before allowing companies to do business there and should work closer with European partners to close off Chinese access to global markets.
A Commerce Department advisory committee plans to voice concerns to Secretary Gina Raimondo about the delay for a rule that would eliminate certain filing requirements for exports to Puerto Rico. The rule, proposed by the Census Bureau in September (see 2009160033), sought industry feedback on the possibility of nixing Electronic Export Information requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which many U.S. shipping groups and exporters say are unnecessary, costly and a time burden.
The United Kingdom's quest to fill 12 spots on the Department for International Trade's Trade and Agriculture Commission has been extended to 11:55 p.m. GMT on July 4, according to a June 23 update from the department. The TAC is an independent expert committee made up of trade and agriculture specialists who survey potential new free trade agreements in the U.K. Interested applicants should submit the relevant forms to TACSecretariat@trade.gov.uk by the new deadline.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region, the agency said in a final rule. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The final rule takes effect June 24.