China's exports to the U.S. dropped 3.8% in August from a year earlier while its shipments to Russia jumped 26.5%, showing evidence of shifting global trade flows along geopolitical lines, Bloomberg reported. Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed that total Chinese exports rose 7.1% last month from a year earlier -- the slowest pace since April when lockdowns in Shanghai rocked shipping. Bloomberg said the drastic increase in Chinese exports to Russia is due to Chinese companies filling the gap left by Western companies leaving Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Chinese shipments to the EU saw an 11.1% jump, with China supplying more energy-intensive goods that have become more expensive to make in Europe, the report said.

Singapore Customs arrested a Bangladeshi national and a Singaporean national Sept. 5 for allegedly evading import duties on cigarettes, the agency announced Sept. 7. As part of the operation, it also seized over 3,700 cartons of cigarettes for which duties had not been paid. Singapore Customs officers carried out the operation at an industrial building where they witnessed two men enter the building. After one man exited, the officers checked him, finding 3,744 cartons of cigarettes wrapped in black trash bags along with 288 empty green baskets that were allegedly used as cover for the cigarettes. The agency said the duty and Goods and Services tax evaded by the men totaled $319,370 and $25,440 (in Singapore dollars), respectively. "Investigations are ongoing," the release said.

Vietnam Customs forced a company based in Dong Nai to suspend its import and export practice since the company owed nearly $350,000 in taxes, the state-run CustomsNews reported Sept. 3. Moscow Champagne has owed taxes for many years, and Vietnam Customs has repeatedly requested the company to pay its taxes, CustomsNews said. The decision to suspend import and export operations took effect Aug. 24.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a Sept. 6 notice extended until Sept. 30 the final date for which exporters can upload the relevant electronic bank realization certificates (e-BRCs), where Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) scrips were issued for shipping bills up to Dec. 31, 2020. After Sept. 30, no further extension will be granted and jurisdictional regional authorities can take action, DGFT said.

Chinese trade barriers to imported food cause substantial price differences between the amount Chinese buyers pay for those U.S. commodities -- including the standard tariffs -- and the national average cost of those goods, a study from USDA's Economic Research Service estimated.

China hs imposed phytosanitary requirements on imports of fresh citrus from Iran, the General Administration of Customs announced Aug. 31, according to an unofficial translation. China said fresh citrus from Iran must come from approved orchards, packaging plants and quarantine treatment facilities. Along with the requirements, China posted the list of pests of concern, including the orange-yellow whitefly Bemisia giffardi and the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.

China announced new inspection and quarantine requirements for imports of orange fiber particles and soybean meal from Brazil, the General Administration of Customs announced Aug. 30 in separate notices, according to an unofficial translation. Orange fiber granules refer to the citrus fruits grown in Brazil as raw materials, which are obtained by liming, pressing, drying and granulating the citrus remains after extracting the juice, the notice said.

Solaiyappan Ramanathan, a permanent resident of Singapore, was ordered to pay a $558,000 fine by the Singapore State Courts for making false statements when applying for Preferential Certificates of Origin for goods his company exported, Singapore Customs announced Aug. 31. Solaiyappan is the former director of Feccuni Singapore Pte. and sole owner of Shakambri Overseas -- companies set up to import and export scrap metals and other metal products from local and overseas suppliers.

India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade in an Aug. 30 notice changed its export policy for certain types of drones/UAVs, dropping the requirement that these exports receive authorization under the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) scheme. The move applies to "Unmanned aerial vehicle systems including drones, remotely piloted air vehicles and autonomous programmable vehicles, not specified under SCOMET Categories/sub-categories 3D013, 5B(a) & (b), 6A010, 8A912, and capable of range equal to or less than 5 km and delivering a payload of not more than 5 kgs (excluding the software and technology of these items)."

China suspended imports of some meat products from Tyson Foods, the General Administration of Customs announced in an Aug. 29 news release, according to an unofficial translation. The suspension applies to goods from a plant owned by Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of the meat processing giant, after some of the company's pig trotters failed inspection. The plant is based in Logansport, Indiana. The suspension shouldn't affect meat trade between the U.S. and China too much because all the plants are eligible to export to China, but it comes at a time when Chinese buyers are looking to buy more pork overseas, said Pan Chenjun, senior analyst at Rabobank, Yahoo Finance reported.