South Korea held an industry conference Aug. 25 to discuss and coordinate responses to the U.S.’s CHIPS and Science Act, which provides incentives for American semiconductor investments, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax credits for certain electric vehicles that are assembled in North America, and whose batteries are mostly sourced from allies. South Korea said it hopes to continue to express to the U.S. its “concerns” over certain provisions of the CHIPS law that it said violate World Trade Organization rules. The country is also planning a range of “countermeasures,” including “an early commencement of manufacturing plant construction to move up production timelines” in its EV battery and chip sectors.
China’s Hainan province said it will become the first region to ban sales of gasoline- and diesel-fueled cars, in an effort to combat climate change, the Associated Press reported this week. The province, consisting of islands off the mainland, will instead promote electric vehicles as it seeks to ban the cars by 2030, the report said.
Beijing-based TianTai Law firm this week published an alert on China’s export control laws (see 2204270040 and 2105180023), outlining how the restrictions apply to certain technologies. The alert also covers China’s Unreliable Entity List regulations and includes examples of certain technologies to show how companies should go about applying for export licenses.
Malaysia will soon impose a 10% tax on certain low-value imported goods sold online, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 24. The tax, which will take effect next year, will be imposed on online goods priced below $112.52 and imported into Malaysia “by vendors based in or outside the country,” the report said.
Japan recently proposed to revise its geographical indication regulations to increase exports of GI-protected processed foods, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report this week. The proposal would reduce “administrative requirements” for new GI applications and no longer require the applications to “specify natural idiosyncrasies of the product,” the agency said. Japan expects the proposed changes will “encourage Japanese producers of well-known value-added food products to apply for GI protection and will enhance the recognition of Japan’s GI system in overseas markets,” USDA said. The country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is accepting public comments on the proposal submitted by Sept. 1.
India this month officially published its requirements for certain imported cherries (see 2201180027), which will expand market access for a range of cherry exporters, including from the U.S., the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report this week. The requirements specifically grant expanded market access for cherries from three states in the Northwest U.S.: Idaho, Oregon and Washington. India hasn’t yet notified the requirements, which include quarantine protocols, to the World Trade Organization.
China lifted its ban on imports of wool and skins of cloven-hoofed animals from South Africa, according to an Aug. 19 announcement from the General Administration of Customs, per an unofficial translation. Chinese Customs banned the imports following an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease.
Vietnam will boost its coal imports from 2025 to 2035 to meet domestic production demand, according to a plan from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the state-run CustomsNews reported Aug. 21. The Southeast Asian nation will bring in 50 to 83 million tonnes of coal per year during this 10-year span, with the volume gradually declining to 32 to 35 million tonnes a year by 2045. Domestic consumption of coal has nearly doubled since 2011, mainly due to electricity production, and the demand is only anticipated to increase, CustomsNews said.
India may double its exports of laboratory-made diamonds in the current financial year, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council's vice chairman, Vipul Shah, said in an interview, Bloomberg reported Aug. 22. Following a drastic uptick in U.S. demand and a more widespread acceptance of lab-made gems in other markets, India -- which cuts or polishes around 90% of the globe's diamonds -- will boost exports of lab-made stones. Shah said exports could grow to $7 billion or $8 billion in the next few years following the growth of U.S., U.K. and Australian demand. In the April-July period this year, exports of polished lab-grown diamonds from India jumped 70% to around $622 million, while exports of mined diamonds fell around 3% to $8.2 billion in the same period, Bloomberg said.
China announced certain steps it will take to optimize its port business environment to promote cross-border trade facilitation for imports and exports subject to quarantine, the General Administration of Customs said Aug. 23, according to an unofficial translation. The steps include dropping the requirement for entry-exit health quarantine and sanitation entities to get approval from customs, giving entry-exit health quarantine and sanitation treatment entities the capability of on-site disinfection, and strengthening the supervision of the on-site operation of entry and exit animal and plant quarantine and pest control.