Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo that there's still more work to do on a trade deal with China, but said, "I think there's a real strong desire by both sides to see if we can wrap this up or move on." He said he hopes -- after this week's talks in China and next week's negotiations in Washington -- "to be at the point where we can either recommend to the president we have a deal or make a recommendation that we don't."
Exports to China
Vietnam Customs detained five containers after discovering the number of goods inside was greater than the number declared by the company on its customs forms, according to an April 29 report from its CustomsNews website. The company, K.L Import Export Trading Production Company Limited, wrote in its customs declaration that it was importing about 3,000 stainless steel sinks from China, but the report said customs officers found more than 5,000 sinks in the containers. The products also did not have a brand label, which also violated Vietnam customs laws, the report said.
Soybeans, peas and pork are now seeing new barriers to importation into China, Reuters reported on April 29. The rejections and delays of those products follow an ongoing dispute over imports of Canadian canola (see 1904170029). "Now traders say Canadian soybeans and peas face unusual obstacles," Reuters reported. "Ottawa also warned last week that China was holding up pork shipments over paperwork issues."
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 29 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
China’s progress toward its satellite ambitions show the need for stricter export controls, stronger collaboration on those controls with U.S. allies, and more staffing and funding for U.S. enforcement agencies, panelists said during a meeting on U.S. space-related export controls. The discussion, part of a series of panels hosted by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on April 25, was billed as a conversation on China’s military-civil fusion. Lorand Laskai, a researcher at the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, presented a dire outlook for the state of U.S.-China commercial space competition, saying China poses a major threat to U.S. export controls.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking in Beijing to a group of 5,000, including 37 countries' prime ministers, presidents and vice presidents, said that China will continue to reform its economy in a number of ways, and that it intends to increase imports of good and services. According to an official English translation of the April 26 speech, Xi said, "China is both a global factory and a global market. With the world's largest and fastest growing middle-income population, China has a vast potential for increasing consumption. To meet our people's ever-growing material and cultural needs and give our consumers more choices and benefits, we will further lower tariffs and remove various non-tariff barriers."
New Chinese electric bike standards took effect April 15, according to a notice from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and will impact the production, sale and use of the bikes. The announcement, made by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Public Security, strengthens the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) system as applied to e-bikes, the notice said. The changes will ensure that “no restrictions are imposed on the sale of imported CCC-compliant e-bikes,” according to the notice. The changes will also improve oversight “of the relevant certification bodies and production enterprises” to ensure bikes meet the country’s standards and that “non-compliant” bikes are not sold, the notice said. The changes also dictate the “destruction” of all non-CCC-compliant e-bikes.
President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will not ratify the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. Trump made the announcement during a speech at a National Rifle Association of America event on April 26. The White House said the treaty "cannot achieve its chief objective of addressing irresponsible arms transfers if these major arms exporters" -- including Russia and China -- "are not subject to it at all." The U.S. signed onto the treaty in 2013, but it was never ratified by the Senate as required. "The United States export controls have long been considered the gold standard for engaging in responsible arms trading and we will continue to use them under our own laws," the White House said.
Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council who represented the U.S. during China trade talks this year, will join Akin Gump as a partner in June, the firm announced April 25. “The trade landscape has rarely been as important to companies around the world as it is now, and Clete will be an invaluable resource for clients seeking to navigate this terrain,” said Brian Pomper, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice.
China and Japan will implement the mutual recognition arrangement for Authorized Economic Operator programs on June 1, the China General Administration of Customs said in a notice, according to an unofficial translation. The countries signed the MRA in October last year. The MRA allows for China to recognize companies certified by Japan's AEO program as certified by China's program and vice versa. The programs give AEO-certified companies expedited customs clearance and reduced inspections, among other benefits. China AEO companies exporting to Japan will need to notify the importer of the AEO company code so the Japanese importer can fill in the required information for the country's customs requirements, according to the translation. "After confirming the identity of China's AEO company, relevant convenience measures will be given," China said. Chinese importers will similarly need to provide a Japanese company's AEO code to receive the benefits, it said.