The United States notified the World Trade Organization that it has fully complied with the WTO's findings in the Boeing subsidies dispute, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said May 6. The European Union and U.S. have been battling for 15 years over whose subsidies to their aircraft manufacturers distort trade. The WTO has said that both sides were in the wrong, and the U.S. currently has Section 301 tariffs on about $7.5 billion worth of European aircraft, food, apparel, linens, tools, wine and spirits in a WTO-sanctioned retaliation for past Airbus subsidies.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in an updated list of its priorities for a U.S.-United Kingdom free trade agreement, said it wants a “single, comprehensive agreement,” not a phased approach that resolves just “a subset of issues.” The Chamber released its list the same day negotiations began (see 2005050014) May 5. It wants the U.S. and the U.K. to eliminate all tariffs on industrial goods, to address non-tariff barriers in industrial goods, and for the U.K. to end what the Chamber calls “non-science-based restrictions on agricultural trade.” The Chamber also is calling for the administration to promptly remove Section 232 tariffs on British steel and aluminum.

CBP created a page dedicated to “technical documentation related to filing export related content to CBP and the Automated Commercial Environment's AESDirect.”

The United Nations Security Council amended a sanctions entry for Martin Koumtamadji, the leader of an anti-government militia in the Central African Republic, according to a May 5 notice. The update provides more identifying information. Koumtamadji was sanctioned by the UNSC and the United Kingdom in April (see 2004220011).

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Nicaragua sanctions to match the recent designations by the European Union of six Nicaraguan officials (see 2005050016), according to a May 5 notice. All six officials are now subject to an asset freeze.

The U.S. should be mindful of not harming the U.S. technology industry as it seeks to impose export restrictions on semiconductor shipments to China, said James Andrew Lewis, director of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those restrictions could cut the U.S. off from consumers, leading foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their products and build alternate supply sources, Lewis said in a May 5 CSIS post.

The Treasury Department fined a Kansas animal nutrition company more than $250,000 for illegally exporting agricultural goods to Cuba, which violated U.S. sanctions, according to a May 6 notice. The company, BIOMIN America, completed 30 illegal sales to Cuba between 2012 and 2017 and did not have a sanctions compliance program, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said. If BIOMIN had consulted with OFAC before the sales took place, the company may have received a license, the agency said.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of May 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Nigeria announced tax and tariff exemptions for certain medical imports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a May 4 KPMG post. The measures, which took effect May 1, exempt medical supply imports from value-added taxes and customs duties for six months, the post said.

Kenya recently reintroduced “verification charges” on traders importing container cargoes, according to a May 5 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The measure, which took effect April 21, will establish fees ranging from $80 to $120 for verifications of 20-foot to 40-foot containers, respectively. The fees have met “stiff opposition” from industry, the report said, who say it will increase logistics costs during a time when companies are already struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.