The omission of funding for outbound investment restrictions in the recently enacted Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, or second minibus, is designed to prevent the Biden administration from blocking U.S. investors from taking over Chinese companies, the House Appropriations Committee said last week.
Exports to China
The U.S. and the U.K. this week sanctioned a Chinese company and two people for carrying out cyberattacks against American and British entities and critical infrastructure sectors.
Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and John Fetterman, D-Pa., introduced a bill March 21 that would prohibit the sale of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to “foreign adversaries,” including China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Syria and Venezuela. The proposed “Banning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act” seeks to prevent “anti-democratic regimes” from winning public auctions that the Energy Department holds to sell excess oil from the reserve, Ernst’s office said.
The U.S. last week sanctioned 15 members of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel and six Mexican businesses for their involvement in a “Black Market Peso Exchange” scheme to launder millions in illegal fentanyl proceeds for the cartel. The designations target cellphone businesses and their owners, fentanyl suppliers, money launderers, food service companies and clothing retailers, a former Mexican police officer and more.
If Donald Trump is elected to a second presidential term, his administration should focus on communicating better with other governments and American companies about upcoming policy decisions, said Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.
China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. “potentially” violated U.S. export control laws by producing 7 nanometer computing chips with American equipment it obtained before the Bureau of Industry and Security imposed updated export controls on chip-making tools last year, BIS Undersecretary Alan Estevez said.
Australia will officially end its antidumping duties on certain Chinese wind towers April 16, the country’s AD Commission said this month. The announcement came after Australia and China agreed in October to resolve World Trade Organization disputes over the Australian duties as well as Chinese duties on Australian wine (see 2310230060).
The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act, which gives the Federal Maritime Commission power to investigate allegations against shipping exchanges, passed the House March 21 by a vote of 393-24. It also directs the FMC to establish standards for price indexes published by shipping exchanges, such as the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 28-22 this week to approve a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders for committing human rights violations.
China’s Commerce Ministry urged the U.S. against placing new export controls on companies linked to Huawei after hearing the U.S. is reportedly considering adding them to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.