Vietnam is eliminating import tariffs on crude oil products starting Nov. 1, Vietnam's Customs’ mouthpiece CustomsNews said in a Sept. 23 report. The import tariff rate on crude oil is currently 5 percent.

Japan has agreed to World Trade Organization consultations with South Korea, Japan’s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry said Sept. 20. The minister said Japan is trying to “coordinate specific schedules through diplomatic routes,” according to an unofficial translation of the transcript from a news conference, but stood by the country’s export restrictions. “Japan's previous position that it is consistent with the WTO agreement remains unchanged,” the minister said. South Korea requested WTO consultations with Japan on Sept. 11 as the two sides continued to swap restrictive trade measures dating back to July. Japan and South Korea met in Beijing in August but did not announce substantial progress after the talks (see 1908160046).

China and Russia signed several trade-related agreements when the two sides met in Russia last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a Sept. 19 press release. The two countries signed a “number of pragmatic cooperation documents” to expand trade and “voice support for the multilateral trading system,” China said, according to an unofficial translation. The two sides said they support the World Trade Organization and announced their intention to ratify an “upcoming ‘China-Eurasia Economic Union Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement,’” China said.

Cambodia’s online certificate of origin system is being expanded to two more provinces and is expected to be adopted nationwide by the end of the year, according to a Sept. 20 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The system will reduce paperwork and the time businesses spend applying for certificates at Cambodia’s commerce ministry's headquarters, the report said. The online system is expected to lower the certificate processing time from 10 to 14 days for the current manual processing to 16 hours, the HKTDC said.

The Commerce Department posted an updated version of its "China's 301 Retaliation Product Scope" that lists U.S. goods that are included in China's retaliatory tariffs. The updated list includes Chinese tariff increases that took effect Sept. 1.

China increased its meat market supply by releasing 10,000 tons of pork from its central reserves, saying it can guarantee the country’s meat supply through increased meat imports and its “high level” of frozen meat inventory, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 19, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. China said it will continue “to release pork from central reserves as appropriate to guarantee supply of pork in the market,” according to a report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The announcement came as U.S. farmers, pork producers and meat exporters continue to face shrinking export markets in China due to the trade war. China recently announced it would add pork to its list of tariff exemptions of U.S. goods (see 1909130013). Also factoring into the reserves release are the upcoming Oct. 1 National Day observances in China, and curtailed domestic pork availability due to “an epidemic of African swine fever that has cut domestic pig production, pushing up demand for pork imports,” according to another Xinhua report.

China will ban hog and boar imports from South Korea after the country recently confirmed cases of African swine fever, according to a Sept. 19 report from Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The ban will include increased quarantine checks on packages and passenger baggage from South Korea, the report said, and the country will detain and seal off any containers or vehicles containing hog or boar-related products from South Korea found inside China.

South Korea officially removed Japan from its list of trusted trading partners, according to a report from The Hankyoreh. The report cited comments from Lee Ho-hyeon, South Korea’s director general of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Trade Policy Bureau, who said the move took effect Sept. 18.

Certain features of Singapore’s TradeNet will be unavailable from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Oct. 6 due to scheduled system maintenance, Singapore Customs said in a Sept. 18 notice. Just the applications "involving amendment, cancellation, refund and stock related permit applications" will not be processed during that time, Singapore Customs said. This system maintenance is in addition to regular maintenance performed on Sundays.

The World Trade Organization on Sept. 16 released South Korea’s most recent complaint against Japan in which it requests consultations over the two sides’ trade dispute. The document, dated Sept. 11, outlines South Korea’s issues with Japan’s export restrictions on three chemicals used in the manufacturing of smartphones, TV displays and semiconductors. South Korea said Japan’s restrictions were politically motivated and “unrelated to any legitimate export control considerations.” South Korea also said Japan’s additional moves, including its decision to remove South Korea from a list of trusted trading partners, has caused “unnecessary delay” and “increased scrutiny” for products destined for South Korea. South Korea said it hopes to find a “mutually acceptable date for consultations” with Japan to address the issues.