Global Trade & Foreign Policy Insights

On October 17, 2020, the Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Export Control Law” or “the law”) was adopted at the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress (“NPC”); it took effect on December 1, 2020.

On Monday, July 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), added 11 Chinese companies to the U.S. Entity List. According to the press release issued by Secretary Ross, all 11 entities were “implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor, involuntary collection of biometric data, and genetic analyses targeted at Muslim minority groups from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region….”

On June 30, 2020, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) passed the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” (National Security Law), implementing new national security measures in Hong Kong, which previously fell outside of PRC’s jurisdiction based on the “one country, two systems” principle in place since Hong Kong’s return to China from the United Kingdom in 1997.

As a result of the enactment of the National Security Law, on July 14, President Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HK Autonomy Act) and simultaneously issued Executive Order 13936, on Hong Kong Normalization (HK Normalization E.O.) that implements many of its provisions. 

On April 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a series of rules that will amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to expand license requirements on the export of items intended for military end use or military end users in China, Russia, or Venezuela.

On March 18, the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) posted this notice on its site to inform industry and the public of the measures it is taking to continue service during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Through December 10, 2019, U.S. importers, manufacturers, and other interested parties may petition the International Trade Commission for a three-year reduction or suspension of import duties on non-U.S. origin products under the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.  

On November 18, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) extended the Temporary General License (TGL), authorizing certain activities involving Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei) and a number of its affiliates, for an additional 90 days. 

On September 31, 2019, the Section 301 tariff exclusion request process for products on List 4A opened.

On August 19, 2019, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released two announcements regarding Huawei, which was added to the Entity List earlier this year along with 68 associated companies. First, BIS announced that it was extending the Temporary General License (TGL) that was set to expire August 19, 2019, allowing continued maintenance activities to existing Huawei networks and devices until November 18, 2019. Second, BIS added an additional 46 Huawei-affiliated companies to the Entity List.

The U.S. government continues its push against one of the world’s largest telecommunications manufacturer, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., by issuing a ban on federal purchases from the tech giant.

The United States’ relationship with Chinese telecom giant Huawei sits on rapidly-shifting sands and seems to be a bargaining chip in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.