With the election only two weeks away, a variety of polls favoring former Vice President Joe Biden, and recent revelations of President Donald Trump’s business ties to China, Trump and several of the more hawkish officials in the administration have again stepped up anti-China rhetoric. Much of this can be chalked up to a return to the strategy that won Trump the election in 2016, such as remarks by White House economic advisor Peter Navarro claiming the Chinese government is working to...
Washington Update
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October 23rd, 2020
October 16th, 2020
State and Treasury move forward with congressionally mandated Hong Kong sanctions
On Wednesday, the Department of State issued a report, mandated by the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA), identifying foreign individuals that have contributed to the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also updated a list of Hong Kong and Chinese officials on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list subject to asset-blocking sanctions....
October 9th, 2020
China featured as one key theme of the 2020 VP debate
During the vice presidential debate on Wednesday, moderator Susan Page initiated a discussion about Senator Kamala Harris’ and Vice President Mike Pence’s views on China. Both nominees painted themself as tougher on China than the other, with Pence also using the opportunity to blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Harris said:
Harris argued that the US trade conflict with China has resulted in a domestic...
October 2nd, 2020
House Republican China Task Force releases sweeping report with 180 recommendations
After months of research, the House Republicans’ China Task Force released its inaugural report on Wednesday. Announced in May of this year, the task force brought together select Republicans from key committees to articulate recommendations for addressing “current and emerging cross-jurisdictional threats from China.” Most of the recommendations in the 130-page report endorse existing bills. It offers...
September 25th, 2020
US district court blocks WeChat ban, TikTok deal approved by the President but final greenlight remains
Just hours before President Trump was set to put restrictions on TikTok and WeChat, both apps were saved from being delisted from US app stores—for now. A TikTok ban was prevented for at least another week due to progress on a deal which would send TikTok’s global headquarters to Texas and allocate a 20 percent share of its business to Oracle and Walmart. The deal is waiting on a...
September 18th, 2020
WTO rules against Trump tariffs on China
On Tuesday, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against the Trump administration tariffs on China, finding that the United States had imposed discriminatory and excessive tariffs on Chinese imports and had not demonstrated that these tariff measures were justified under Article XX(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1994. In a related development, a group of importers filed suit in the US Court of International Trade...
September 11th, 2020
Possible ban on Xinjiang cotton delayed
Earlier this week, there were rumblings around Washington that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would be taking action to ban all cotton, textiles, and tomato imports from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) due to forced labor concerns. The formal announcement of a reportedly already-drafted withhold release order (WRO) was put on pause this Tuesday due to scheduling issues according to an agency spokesperson. WROs covering specific...
September 4th, 2020
Forthcoming action on Chinese apps
Statements this week from US officials suggest that recent executive orders targeting Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat may only be the beginning. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Monday told Fox News that US actions against TikTok are meant to prevent US citizens’ information “from being placed in the hands of the Chinese national security apparatus,” seemingly referring to Chinese national security laws that technically provide justification for...
August 28th, 2020
Phase One check in held quietly Monday night
On Monday night, top trade officials held a Phase One agreement 6-month check in, a meeting that was called off by President Trump earlier this month just hours before the originally scheduled date. According to a press release, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and China’s Vice Premier Liu He discussed steps China is taking to “ensure greater protection for intellectual property rights, remove...
August 21st, 2020
New entity listings further restrict Huawei
The Commerce Department this week added another 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to the Entity List, further restricting Huawei’s access to items produced domestically and abroad using US technology and software. The move has broad business implications not only for US companies, but for Asian and European companies in the semiconductor sector as well.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded the new measures which expand the...
