United States International Trade Commission

MNCs in the News-2021 March

China Ministry of Commerce spokesperson says China’s new foreign investment security review will not impose unnecessary burden on normal foreign businesses. China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman says China will press forward on efforts to combat the extraterritorial application of foreign sanctions. China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission gives foreign investors the right to acquire a 51+ percent stake in Chinese insurance companies. China’s economic sanctions against members of European Parliament threaten to disrupt the ratification process of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). Sweden’s H&M faces backlash because of its stance of working with factories in or products from Xinjiang. Chinese executives in state-owned enterprises in Myanmar say turmoil in the country has not affected Belt and Road Initiative projects. Brexit has adversely affected Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United Kingdom. The head of SBI Holdings says he will move the firm’s brokerage out of Hong Kong due to the evolving political situation. Line takes steps to limit the access of Chinese affiliates and contractors to Japanese data and shift data from Korea to Japan. Japan’s Fast Retailing suffers disruptions due to fires set at two of its Myanmar suppliers in wake of military coup. Korea advances industrial cluster scheme to increase its local production capabilities in the wake of tensions with Japan and Covid-19 related disruptions. In response to complaints, Google Korea will lower in-app purchase commission for smaller app developers. South Korean companies partnering with Chinese internet platform and fintech firms worry that Beijing’s increasing regulation of the latter may adversely affect their joint ventures. The governor of Georgia asks US President Biden to overturn a United States International Trade Commission ruling that threatens a SK Innovation factory in Georgia.

MNCs in the News-2020-03-27

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has issued more than 6400 force majeure certificates to help suppliers deal with their inability to meet their contractual obligations. Per China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first two months of 2020 totaled USD $15.5 billion, a 1.8 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase. China’s MOFCOM reports that Chinese companies put $2.72 billion into 48 countries along the Belt and Road, an 18.3 percent jump YOY. Chinese construction companies prove adept at rapidly building hospitals in countries facing medical infrastructure challenges in coronavirus era. In the first defense product export deal since Japan eased its arms trade ban in 2014, Mitsubishi will sell air radar systems to the Philippines. In an atmosphere where automobile companies are expected to help by producing supplies to deal with Covid-19, Toyota North America moves to step up production of related goods. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics get exemptions to send engineers to their plants in Vietnam. US International Trade Commissions released documents explaining its default judgement supporting LG Chem’s accusations of trade secret theft by SK Innovation.