The U.S. is banning the import of gold from Russia, starting June 28, but Russia-origin gold that is already outside the country is allowed to enter.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is proposing to amend its wine labeling and advertising regulations to remove a prohibition on statements that a wine contains distilled spirits, it said in a notice published June 13. “This proposed deregulatory action will allow wine makers and importers to provide additional information to consumers about their wines, while still providing consumers with adequate and non-misleading information as to the identity and quality of the products they purchase,” TTB said. Comments are due Aug. 12.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau recently issued a final rule making another set of changes to its labeling regulations for distilled spirits and malt beverages. In this second set of amendments based on a proposal issued by the agency in November 2018 (see 1811230015), the agency is reorganizing the regulations for clarity, incorporating its current policies into the regulations and adopting liberalizing changes that bring requirements for distilled spirits or malt beverages into line with those for wine. The final rule, effective March 11, “will not require industry members to make changes to alcohol beverage labels or advertisements but instead provide additional flexibility to make certain changes going forward,” TTB said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, acknowledging that removing Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods would make some difference in inflation, didn't directly answer a question about whether they should stay, but said that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is "revisiting the phase one trade deal and recognizing requests to reduce tariffs in some areas." During a "Face the Nation" appearance Nov. 14, Yellen was also asked what the Biden administration could do to unclog the supply chain. "We have been talking with the operators of ports in Los Angeles, in Long Beach, in Savannah, trying to understand why there are such backlogs of ships waiting to off-load their goods."

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in a recent interview with The New York Times, suggested that the cost of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports wasn't worth the concessions wrung from China in the phase one deal. “Tariffs are taxes on consumers. In some cases it seems to me what we did hurt American consumers, and the type of deal that the prior administration negotiated really didn’t address in many ways the fundamental problems we have with China,” she told the Times.

The announcement over the weekend that the G-7 countries have agreed on a global minimum corporate tax could mean that digital services taxes will be avoided. The communique from the finance ministers said they agree that hammering out an agreement on global minimums and how to treat revenues outside corporations' home countries that do not have a physical nexus should be done at the same time. Their goal is to reach an agreement in July. They said that home countries will have the right to tax the first 10% in profit, and then at least 20% of the profit past that amount of "the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises. We will provide for appropriate coordination between the application of the new international tax rules and the removal of all Digital Services Taxes, and other relevant similar measures, on all companies."

While Vietnam, Taiwan, and Switzerland exceeded thresholds established by the Treasury Department to identify potentially unfair currency practices, a report from the department released April 16 said there is no evidence that they manipulated their currency to gain unfair trade advantage. The report noted that in early 2021, Treasury offices began “enhanced bilateral engagement with Vietnam and is working with the Vietnamese authorities to develop a plan with specific actions to address the underlying causes of Vietnam’s currency undervaluation.” It was already engaged with Switzerland on the topic, and will continue those discussions. It said similar talks should be done with Taiwan. The report noted that the Taiwanese currency appreciated in 2020, but given the strength of Taiwan's economy that year, it did not rise as much as would be expected.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. is working with the world's 20 largest economies in the hopes of arriving at “a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom.” If that agreement included an approach to taxation of the digital giants such as Google and Facebook, that would also deflate the digital services tax controversy, which could otherwise lead to additional 25% tariffs on more than $800 million in goods (see 2103290049).

The U.S. should boost efforts to counter China’s unfair trading practices and work closer with allies on trade restrictions, said Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Treasury secretary. Yellen, speaking before the Senate Finance Committee Jan. 19, said the administration will increase pressure and work multilaterally against China’s unfair subsidies, illegal technology transfers and other trade issues. “China is clearly our most important strategic competitor,” she said, and the U.S. needs to “take on Chinese abusive, unfair and illegal practices,” including illegal dumping, trade barriers, lopsided subsidies and forced technology transfers, which is giving China an “unfair technological advantage.” If confirmed, Yellen said, Treasury will cooperate more with allies but will still impose unilateral restrictions if they are warranted. “These practices, including China's global labor and environmental standards, are practices that we’re prepared to use the full array of tools to address,” she said.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is adopting as permanent a temporary rule that amended its regulations to change excise tax return due dates and remove bond requirements for some taxpayers. The rules, in place since January 2017, allow taxpayers who were liable for $1,000 or less in excise taxes on distilled spirits, wines and beer for the previous calendar year, and expect to be liable for $1,000 or less in excise taxes for the current calendar year, to file returns on an annual basis. TTB is also finalizing the removal of bond requirements for taxpayers that are eligible to pay excise taxes on beer and non-industrial spirits and wine using quarterly or annual return periods.