At a U.S. House of Representatives hearing last week, several Biden administration officials testified about enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), discussing issues such as de minimis shipments and application of the law to seafood imports.

Taiwan elected its new leader, Ching-te (William) Lai (賴清德), at a time when its trade relationship with mainland China has been strained. Lai's past statements about trade raise the possibility of a deepening rift with China.

At a WTO Committee on Rules of Origin meeting, China presented its study of the utilization of tariff preferences by least developed countries (LDCs), and other WTO Members offered their reactions.

Last month, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued a guideline on standard contracts for personal data flows in the Greater Bay area. Compared to the more general rules on cross-border data flows, the rules for the Greater Bay area alleviate the burden for business in some ways.

At the meeting of the WTO Working Party on State Trading Enterprises on October 20, 2023, for which the minutes were recently circulated, the U.S. and EU complained that China had provided insufficient information in its notification.

The China-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) upgrade has now been fully implemented, as a new New Zealand conservative government settles in and develops its own China economic relations policy.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * New sanctions * China-Nicaragua trade agreement * First court ruling on 5G FRAND rates * Anti-dumping investigation on EU brandy * Government comments on trade with Taiwan and U.S. export controls  In the U.S.: * Anti-dumping/countervailing duty investigations on Chinese tin mill