The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls rescheduled its in-house seminar scheduled for April 8 to April 29, the agency said March 4. The notice said this is due to scheduling conflicts. The agency also said it is extending registration for the seminar by one week. Availability remains “first come, first served.” Questions should be directed to DDTCInHouseSeminars@state.gov.

Three House members introduced a bill March 5 that would grant Trade Adjustment Assistance to workers who lost their jobs at firms that had to cut back due to retaliatory tariffs on their exports. The bill was introduced by Reps. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. Traditionally, TAA has been for people who lost their jobs because the company moved their work out of the country, or because the company had to cut staff because it could not compete with imports. It provides extended unemployment insurance and pays for tuition for up to two years so workers can retrain for a different field. This bill is similar to a Democrat-introduced bill in July 2018 (see 1807180019) that did not get a vote in the House; Schneider, Sensenbrenner and Cooper also introduced a version of the bill in the summer of 2018.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation removed two entries from its sanctions list for misappropriation of funds and human rights violations related to Ukraine, according to a March 6 notice. The entries, Mykola Yanovych Azarov Edward Stavytskyi, are no longer subject to an asset freeze.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended five entries under the country’s Libya sanctions, according to a March 6 notice. The entries are still subject to an asset freeze.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added three entries to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions list, according to a March 5 notice. The sanctions targeted Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- Libya,” and the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- Yemen.” The three entries were added to the United Nations ISIL (Da’esh), al‑Qaida sanctions list March 4.

The European Council renewed sanctions against 10 people for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds and corruption, the council said March 5. The sanctions, which include asset freezes, were renewed for one year until March 6, 2021.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a frequently asked question March 6 clarifying how humanitarian goods can be sent to Iran to assist with the coronavirus outbreak. OFAC said there are a “number of ways” humanitarian goods, including donations, can be sent to the country, adding that medical-related donations are “generally exempt” from U.S. sanctions if those donations are not being sent to the Iranian government or others blocked by the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations. OFAC also said donations are not authorized for shipments to entries on the agency’s Specially Designated Nationals List. Nongovernmental organizations are authorized under General License E to export services to Iran “in support of certain not-for-profit activities designed to directly benefit the Iranian people,” OFAC said. Others interested in exporting humanitarian goods to Iran should review the ITSR and other OFAC guidance, the agency said.

The last American to serve on the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, Tom Graham, told the Georgetown Law International Trade Update conference that the body “is not coming back any time soon.” Graham, who largely agrees with the U.S. critique of Appellate Body overreach, added, “The new I have come to ... is that it's better this way.” Graham was the most prominent, but far from the only speaker at the March 5-6 conference to say that neither the Europeans nor the Americans are ready to have a meeting of the minds on how to reform the appellate function of the rules-based trading order.

If President Donald Trump is not re-elected, the next administration will remain focused on China, export controls and Entity List actions but will likely approach China with a more clear, predictable strategy, two former top Commerce Department officials said. “You would see a more well-defined, carefully thought-through approach to issues like Huawei,” Peter Lichtenbaum, who served as Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration during the Bush administration, said during a March 6 International Trade Update panel at the Georgetown University law school. “Not because it's a Democratic [administration], but because it's a more regular-order administration and less policy made by tweet.”

Former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and former CBP commissioner Kevin McAleenan will be a distinguished guest lecturer at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point during the spring 2020 semester, for its course on Homeland Security and Defense, the United States Military Academy said in a news release.