A new China-Europe freight train launched last week that will help exports from China’s Sichuan province to Europe and boost foreign trade, China’s State Council Information Office said Aug. 12. The train, carrying more than “30,000 parcels” worth about $70 million, is the “first of its kind” between the city of Chengdu and Budapest, China said. The train is a “significant part” of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the State Council said, and should increase trade between China and Europe.

South Korea is trying to increase domestic production of “key materials and parts” to reduce its reliance on trade with Japan, according to an Aug. 9 South Korea Ministry of Trade press release. Sung Yun-mo, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, met with state-run research institutions on Aug. 8 at the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology to discuss how the country can increase production. The meeting comes amid a trade dispute between Japan and South Korea in which Japan announced export restrictions on three chemicals used for the manufacturing of smart chips and other technologies.

India is considering raising import taxes on “green energy equipment” in an effort to give Indian manufacturers and companies an advantage over cheap imports, according to an Aug. 9 report from the India Brand Equity Foundation. China has “commanded” the market for solar components, the report said, which prompted India to impose in July 2018 a “safeguard obligation” on solar cells and modules imported from China and Malaysia. But India is considering strengthening those measures, the report said, citing Anand Kumar, secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

President Donald Trump urged Japan and South Korea to settle their trade dispute and said it is putting the U.S. “in a very bad position.”

Vietnam Customs recently issued guidance to its provincial departments on validation of certificates of origin under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to an Aug. 8 report in CustomsNews mouthpiece. The guidance includes some additional criteria for each of the nine minimum data elements required for CPTPP certificates of origin under Annex 3-B of the agreement.

The Association of China Rare Earth Industry said it supports Chinese retaliatory measures against the U.S. and accused the U.S. of “trade bullying behavior,” according to an unofficial translation of the association’s Aug. 7 press release. The association said the U.S.’s threat of increased tariffs were “for the purpose of curbing and suppressing China’s emerging developing power.” China suspended purchases of U.S. agricultural goods in retaliation (see 1908050005). The association said it must use China’s advantages in rare earth resources and “resolutely support the country's positive response and countermeasures” against the U.S. “The practice of increasing tariffs and upgrading trade frictions in the United States not only harms China’s interests, but also seriously damages the interests of US businesses and consumers,” the association said. “We express our firm opposition.”

Pakistan will suspend bilateral trade with India, the country’s Press Information Department said in an Aug. 7 press release. The move follows India’s decision to end Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomous status under the Indian constitution.

China unveiled on Aug. 6 its pilot plan for the new Lingang area of the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, where goods will benefit from reduced duties or tax exemptions, according to an Aug. 6 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The section will cover an area of about 75 square miles and will “match the standard of the most competitive free trade zones worldwide,” Xinhua said. The zone will encourage foreign access and increase the free flow of goods, and by 2025 the Lingang area “will have a relatively mature institutional system of investment and trade liberalization and facilitation,” Xinhua said. While Xinhua did not include specific details, the zone is also expected to eliminate all duties and ease most customs procedures (see 1908050013).

China told India not to block Huawei Technologies from operating in the country and threatened retaliation against Indian companies, Reuters reported Aug. 6.

The U.S. designated China as a currency manipulator, saying the country has been trying to gain an “unfair competitive advantage in international trade,” the Department of the Treasury said in an Aug. 5 press release. Treasury said China has “taken concrete steps to devalue its currency” in “recent days” and said China has openly acknowledged that “it has extensive experience manipulating its currency and remains prepared to do so on an ongoing basis.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will work with the International Monetary Fund to “eliminate” the unfair advantage created by China's latest actions, the press release said.