The state of Montana passed a law last week banning TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, from being downloaded within its borders. TikTok and others have now filed lawsuits challenging this ban in U.S. court.

Recently, the Subcommittee on Oversight & Accountability of the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on "U.S. Export Controls in an Era of Strategic Competition." The Subcommittee was examining the implementation and enforcement of U.S. export controls "as part of the Committee's

The recently created "Select Committee on the CCP" in the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing last week on "Leveling the Playing Field: How to Counter the CCP's Economic Aggression."

As part of a summit that took place in Hiroshima over the past several days, the leaders of the G7 countries issued a communiqué that sets out their collective views on a number of issues connected to economic relations with China.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * FTA signed with Ecuador, trade meetings with Central Asian countries * Restrictions on Australian timber eased * Drafts of standards for auto data * Tesla recall In the U.S.: * U.S.-Taiwan trade deal announced * U.S. Trade Rep. comments on China

USTR announced today that the United States and Taiwan "have concluded negotiations on the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade," and released the full text of an agreement.

At a press conference, China's Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, announced that China had eased restrictions on Australian timber imports, and also discussed China's CPTPP entry and concerns about Chinese surveillance.