The U.S. and the United Kingdom will begin trade negotiations this month, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said March 10. U.K. Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands visited the U.S. this week to meet with industry and government representatives, when he planned to discuss trade “opportunities” with administration officials. In a statement, Hands said the deal will “scrap unnecessary red tape” and “bring more opportunities for businesses.”
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Zimbabwean government officials for human rights violations, Treasury said in a March 11 news release. Anselem Sanyatwe, former commander of the Zimbabwean National Army’s Presidential Guard Brigade, and Owen Ncube, the country’s minister of national security, committed violations against people protesting the country’s “flawed elections” and supporters of a Zimbabwean opposition group. OFAC also removed sanctions against Ray Kaukonde, Shuvai Ben Mahofa, Sithokozile Mathuthu and Naison Ndlovu, who were previously designated under Zimbabwe sanctions.
The timeline for the release of CBP’s electronic export manifest system remains unclear despite hopes on the part of some officials that the system would be launched last year (see 1910180061). “I believe it’ll be a little bit down the road,” Kiesha Downs, chief of the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, said during a March 10 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “Everybody knows how long it takes to go through the regulatory process.”
Export shipments out of the Port of Los Angeles fell 5.7% in February compared with last year, and overall traffic through the port fell by nearly a quarter, with declines expected to continue in March, the port said in a press release March 10. The coronavirus has been a major contributor to the decline. “We are more interconnected than ever with our global partners so it’s no surprise that Trans-Pacific maritime trade has been significantly impacted,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “As factory production in China remains at low levels, we expect soft volumes in March. Looking ahead to anticipated manufacturing improvements, we will need to return empty containers to Asia and push lingering U.S. export boxes out swiftly,” Seroka said. “We’re actively working with our supply chain partners to be prepared for a cargo surge once production levels ramp up.” Imports were down 22.5% in the month of February. The Lunar New Year holiday in Asia was also a factor in the decline, the release said.
Morocco’s national food safety board plans to introduce new regulations for food product packaging that will impact “all foreign imports,” the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a March 10 report. A public consultation period ended in January and no details have yet been released on changes to the rules resulting from public comments nor a release date for the rules, the report said. The new requirements will apply to all of Morocco's trading partners that import, produce or use “food contact materials,” including metals, alloys, paper, cardboard, ceramics, plastics, inks, coatings and “varnishes used on food contact materials,” the report said. Other products impacted include rubber, regenerated cellulose films, pigments and dyes.
Several members of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain -- introduced measures to amend or clarify their customs and value-added tax regulations, KPMG said in a March 9 post. Saudi Customs introduced a “self-correction program,” which allows importers to voluntarily declare and pay duties for “any pending customs liability,” KPMG said. In addition, Qatar is expected to implement its VAT regime this year, the post said, and Bahrain issued guidance relating to how often its VAT payers must file certain tax documents.
Italy will transfer responsibilities for dual-use export license requests and export control policies from its Ministry of Economic Development to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs Munitions Licensing Unit (UAMA) after June 30, according to a March 9 post from the European Union Sanctions blog. Beginning July 1, export control responsibilities will “be divided between the ministries” or “transfer entirely to UAMA,” the post said.
U.S.-China trade tensions have “greatly affected” orders for Vietnamese garment and textile companies, according to a March 10 report from CustomsNews, the mouthpiece for Vietnam Customs. Despite the tensions, “customers of many companies still took priority to choose Chinese producers because of their advantages on production technique, infrastructure and complete value chain,” the report said. “This is a cause leading to shortage of orders in the short term for Vietnamese companies.” Vietnamese companies are also competing for orders with countries “which have lower costs,” including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan.
Japan recently removed “seasonal restrictions” on the import window of U.S. chipping potatoes and lifted the two-month maximum storage restriction, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report released March 6. The changes, which took effect last month, were the result of 15 years of discussions between the USDA and Japan in which the U.S. tried to “demonstrate that the limited trade window was not a phytosanitary-based restriction, but rather a technical barrier to trade.”
The House Agriculture subcommittee that covers trade asked farmers to tell them how trade is affecting their businesses. They said they are not following President Donald Trump's advice to buy bigger tractors to fill the orders China has promised to make. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., chairman of the subcommittee, quoted Trump's comment about tractors in his opening statement, and said he's skeptical about the phase one deal with China, especially given that the coronavirus outbreak is going to affect China's market demand. He also said he'd heard about American poultry stuck in port because there was no one to move it due to quarantines.