US trade bullying not conducive to talks

The Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Commerce Department is adding another 32 persons and entities to the Unverified List, according to a release issued on Friday, 14 of them are Chinese.

The BIS regulations indicate that these foreign persons are added to the UVL because the BIS or federal officials acting on the BIS' behalf were unable to verify their bona fides (for example, legitimacy and reliability relating to the end use and end user of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations through the completion of an end-use check). Sometimes these checks, such as a pre-license check or a post-shipment verification, cannot be completed satisfactorily for reasons outside the US government's control. Entities under the UVL are only one step away from being added to the BIS' Entity List, and failure to complete end-use verification of products within 60 days of being added to the UVL will result in more severe penalties.

It should be noted US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on the same day that she is open to trade conversions with Chinese officials. But the BIS' move targeting China apparently does not contribute to the formation of a positive atmosphere for that conversation, and also indicates what a distorted view the US has developed toward "competition" with China that it acts accordingly.