In the Feb. 25 - March 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Cambodia is scheduled to lose preferential tariff status on about $1 billion worth of its exports to the European Union on Aug. 12 unless vetoed by the European Parliament or an EU member state, according to a March 2 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The loss of preferential tariffs, provided to Cambodia under the EU’s Everything But Arms program, will impact about 20% of Cambodia’s “preferential tariff entitlement” under the deal, the report said. The Cambodian exports will instead be subject to the EU’s standard Most Favored Nation tariff. The move stems from EU concerns about human rights violations in Cambodia, the HKTDC said.

Applicants for the most recent Chinese tariff exclusion process should expect to spend less time justifying their requests and instead benefit from a less costly and lengthy application process, according to a Feb. 28 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. China’s announcement last month to accept exemption applications for retaliatory tariffs on nearly 700 U.S. products (see 2002180039), which officially began March 2, reduces the “cost and difficulty” in applying for exclusions compared with previous procedures, the report said. Applicants only need to submit “basic information,” such as Harmonized System codes and planned purchase amounts. Applicants should expect to spend less time justifying their requests with no need to explain the impact of Chinese retaliatory tariffs on their business or whether there is “alternative sourcing in the market, the major impacts of additional tariffs on industries and society, etc.,” PwC said. The report details the requirements applicants must meet, the scope of the products affected and more.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable March 4 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EST for system maintenance, the DDTC said March 3. The DDTC urged users to ensure “work in progress is saved” before the scheduled downtime. The DECCS launched Feb. 18 (see 2002190025).

Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross criticized a “blacklist” recently released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that lists 112 companies, including several U.S. businesses, that do business in a disputed Israeli-Palestinian territory. In a March 3 statement, Ross said boycotts against Israel and companies doing business with Israel “are contrary” to U.S. policy, saying the UN list is “anti-business” and ”seeks to isolate Israel, has no factual basis or legal force whatsoever, and should not be adhered to in any respect.” Ross said the U.S. “fully supports the U.S. companies identified on the list and encourages all U.S. businesses to continue to work with and invest in Israeli as well as Palestinian communities.”

Two Chinese nationals sanctioned by the Treasury Department were charged with laundering more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Justice Department said March 2. Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong, who were added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List earlier this week (see 2003020042), were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, the Justice Department said. They allegedly worked with North Korean cyber hackers, who stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency, and never registered with the U.S.’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network despite conducting business in the U.S.

A Tennessee resident who is an Iranian citizen pleaded guilty to smuggling more than $110,000 worth of goods from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a March 3 news release. Aiden Davidson, manager of New Hampshire-based Golden Gate International, used the company to export $100,000 worth of motors, pumps, valves and other goods to Iran-based Babazedeh Trading Co. from 2016 to 2017, the Justice Department said. In another instance, Davidson helped export $13,000 worth of displacement pumps to Iran. In both cases, shipping documents listed the ultimate consignee as a company in Turkey.

The U.S.-Swiss joint mechanism intended to provide companies a path to exporting humanitarian goods to Iran may not convince risk-averse banks and businesses to export to the country, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a Feb 28 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Although the mechanism, which became operational Feb. 27 (see 2002270017), sets high due-diligence standards for users, the State Department expects more exporters to begin using it after announcing the first transaction through the system in January (see 2001300020).

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 24-28 in case you missed them.

The United Kingdom government emphasized that its National Health Service will not pay more for drugs as a result of a U.S.-United Kingdom free trade deal, and that Britain “will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.” The latter seems to be a reference to sanitary standards that frustrate U.S. exporters, such as a ban on anti-bacterial washes of chicken. The government issued its negotiating objectives and an analysis of the economic benefit to the U.K. of a free trade deal in the March 2 document.