China Market Intelligence

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s most recent session closed last Thursday with the sudden release of a new Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (Chinese text). The law, which was under review but had not been disclosed until shortly before its official publication, expands China’s arsenal for countering what it considers unjustified or discriminatory sanctions or other extraterritorial actions taken by foreign powers. The release of new tools for retaliation coincides with a flurry...

Yesterday, the White House released the findings of its 100-day review of four critical supply chains mandated under a February executive order. The report mentions China hundreds of times, giving significant attention to vulnerabilities posed by China’s dominant position in four supply chains that are critical to the United States: semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, critical minerals and materials, and pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The report includes...

Late last year, USCBC member companies began voicing concerns about the pricing and availability of ocean freight shipping containers bound for overseas markets from China. According to one shipping company, the market asking price had increased more than fivefold since 2019. In turn, US-based exporters are also having trouble securing containers, as shipping companies are finding it more cost effective to simply ship empty containers back to China. The shortage has posed a significant...

The interim final rule (IFR) on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) Supply Chain went into effect on March 22, granting broad authority to the secretary of commerce to review virtually any ICT transaction that is deemed to pose a risk to national security. Already, multiple unnamed Chinese companies have been subpoenaed under the IFR’s authority, raising questions about what avenues will be provided to industry to mitigate their exposure to the ICTS...