The Trump administration is expected to complete a review of the current scope of U.S. export controls on countries subject to arms embargoes, including China, and may make potential regulatory changes by May 10, according to an April 5 blog post from Steptoe & Johnson. The administration’s review stems from a section of the 2018 Export Control Reform Act, which requires a “review relating to countries subject to comprehensive United States arms embargo.” The act specifically requires the Commerce, State and Defense departments, among others, to review export controls on trades with “military end uses and military end users,” according to the post.
The European Union updated its Market Access Database to include “detailed information on rules adopted” by the United Kingdom “that would apply on UK imports from the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit,” it said in an April 8 press release. “This is a part of the Commission’s efforts to help industry be prepared in case the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a negotiated deal,” the release said.
The Confederation of Mexican Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM) recently issued a circular detailing recent changes to the Mexican customs regulations. The Mexican Tax Administration Service published the notice, the fifth such set of changes to the Mexican Foreign Trade Regulations, on March 30. The CAAAREM circular was posted by Mexican law firm Consorcio Juridico Aduanero.
The Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence is requesting a nearly $25 million budget increase from the previous year, partly to help with staffing concerns, according to Treasury’s annual budget report. OTFI lists its “increasing role” in the Trump administration as justification for the increased budget. The agency is requesting about $165 million.
Canada appears set to impose a three-year safeguard duty on imports of heavy steel plate and stainless steel wire from most countries, but could soon refund safeguard duties collected on five other types of steel, after the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a mixed decision April 3 on whether to finalize provisional safeguard duties in place since October.
Treasury’s March settlement with Stanley Black & Decker serves as a compliance guide for U.S. companies and represents an important peek into how the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control plans to issue enforcement settlements throughout 2019, according to an April 1 report by WilmerHale.
A Justice Department settlement with Honda Aircraft Company after Honda allegedly discriminated against non-U.S. citizens to try to comply with U.S. export laws serves as a cautionary tale for U.S. employers, according to an April 3 report from Covington & Burling. The case, announced in a Feb. 1 press release, resulted in a nearly $45,000 settlement payment from Honda Aircraft after it wrote in job postings that candidates were required to have a “specific citizenship status,” the press release said. The postings were based on the company’s “misunderstanding” of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations, the Justice Department said. Honda Aircraft was ordered to remove all “specific citizenship requirements from current and future job postings.”
The U.S. has "an immediate need" to secure lower agriculture tariffs for its producers because European, Canadian and Australian farmers are selling into Japan at lower tariffs than U.S. farmers can, said Wendy Cutler, the former lead negotiator for the U.S. in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada and Australia are advantaged now because they stayed in the TPP. Japan also recently put into force an EU-Japan free trade agreement. Cutler, now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, spoke at a Washington International Trade Association program April 3 on the future of U.S.-Japan Trade.
The U.S. continues to pursue “vigorous engagement” with China to “increase the benefits” that U.S. businesses, service providers and consumers “derive from trade and economic ties” with the Chinese, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its annual report on global foreign trade barriers (see 1904010045). China’s trade practices “in several specific areas,” especially forced technology transfer and the Made in China 2025 industrial program, continue to “cause particular concern” for U.S. “stakeholders,” USTR said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 25-29 in case they were missed.