The Treasury Department again chose to not label China or any other country a currency manipulator as part of its semiannual report to Congress on exchange rate policies. Some pressure has built over recent days and weeks to call out both China and Japan on currency values and manipulation (see 14101004). Treasury said China is making strides in allowing its currency to reflect market forces, even though the yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), is still severely undervalued. Between mid-February and late April, the RMB depreciated by 3.1 percent. Since late April, it has partially recovered, appreciating by 1.9 percent,” said the report. “On balance, in the first nine and a half months of 2014, the RMB has depreciated by 1.4 percent against the dollar after strengthening by 2.9 percent in 2013.”

The Treasury Department should muster the nerve to name China a currency manipulator for the first time during the Obama administration, said a prominent U.S. manufacturing advocate in a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Oct. 8. In the most recent Treasury report to Congress on international exchange rates and their effect on trade, the agency chose not to label China a manipulator, but said China scaled back progress on bringing the yuan to market value (see 14041720). The next such report is due later in October. Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said China is increasingly manipulating its currency. “The situation has, if anything, grown worse over the last six months,” he said. “The dollar/yuan exchange rate is essentially the same this week as it was 17 months ago and China’s aggressive intervention has caused the yuan to fall 1.63 percent below its high-water mark in January 2014. China continues to amass major trade surpluses with the United States — reaching a single-month record in July 2014.” Paul also urged Treasury to label Japan a manipulator, saying that country is fueling U.S. trade deficits by allowing its currency to weaken 30 percent over the last 18 months. Japan is a Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating party, but U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman recently told Congress the countries involved in the talks have not yet discussed currency (see 14050123).

The Treasury Department authorized U.S. citizens and companies to make some transactions with DenizBank, after Executive Order 13662 prohibited dealings with the company. Denizbank is a Turkish financial institution owned by Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank. The U.S. sanctioned Sberbank in September, placing it on the Specially Designated Nationals List (see 14091503). That move was part of a larger sanctions package that followed a number of other rounds of sanctions since the outset of 2014. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is also allowing U.S. transactions with banks that Denizbank owns 50 percent or more of. A Treasury directive, under the executive order, bars U.S. individuals or companies from dealings with sanctioned banks in “new debt of longer than 90 days maturity or new equity for these persons, their property, or their interests in property" (here).

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added individuals and entities to the Specially Designated Nationals list on Sept. 30 and deleted a number of entries.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is allowing several more types of alcoholic beverage label changes that don’t require agency review, it said in an industry circular dated Sept. 29. Industry will now be able to modify or delete promotional or sponsorship graphics, award stickers, and information on the number of bottles produced; delete organic references; modify approved statements on sulfite content; and add serving instructions, all without having to apply for a new Certificate of Labeling Approval (COLA). The six new changes will be added to list of 28 other changes TTB allows without review when it next revises the COLA application form. Approval of the changes took effect Sept. 29.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added 21 individuals and three entities to the Specially Designated Nationals list on Sept. 24.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added two South Sudanese individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals list on Sept. 18.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Colombian individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals list on Sept. 16.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added individuals and an entity to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), and deleted one entry, on Sept. 11.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control settled a civil case with Citigroup Inc. over multiple alleged violations of four sanctions laws, including involvement in the shipment of sanctioned goods to Iran, OFAC said on Sept. 3. Citigroup agreed to pay OFAC $217,841 for alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations. Citigroup Trade Services Malaysia allegedly processed in 2009 four export bill collection applications on behalf of Citibank N.A., Hong Kong that involved goods shipments to Iran, including to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, which has been specifically targeted by OFAC for sanctions in recent years. Citibank also processed payments between 2011 and 2012 to individuals on the Specially Designated Nationals List, OFAC said.