A bipartisan group of 161 House members are asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to open negotiations for a free trade deal with Taiwan. The letter, sent Dec. 19, was led by Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “Taiwan is a longstanding ally and a like-minded partner in the Indo-Pacific region that upholds and shares our values. Taiwan is our 11th largest trading partner worldwide, the 8th largest export market for U.S. agricultural products, a major purchaser of U.S. LNG exports, and the supplier of a significant amount of the semiconductors used by our manufacturers in their finished goods,” they said. “As the trade and investment relationship with Taiwan already supports an estimated 373,000 U.S. jobs, working toward the negotiation of a high-standard and comprehensive U.S.-Taiwan bilateral trade agreement would further enhance our shared goal of enhancing the global competitiveness of U.S. industries while spurring American job creation.”
The State Department sanctioned Honduran congressman Oscar Ramon Najera due to “significant corruption,” according to a Dec. 20 press release. Najera allegedly benefited from the Honduran drug trafficking organization Los Cachiros, which was designated by the Treasury Department as a foreign narcotics trafficking group in 2013. The State Department also designated Najera’s son Oscar Roberto Najera Lopez.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people in Mali for threatening the country’s peace and obstructing humanitarian aid, Treasury said in a Dec. 20 press release. The United Nations Security Council also designated the five people, imposing asset freezes throughout UN member states, according to a Dec. 19 press release.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed a license authorizing certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. and amended three Iran-related frequently asked questions, OFAC said in a Dec. 19 notice. General License K-1, which replaced General License K, authorizes transactions relating to the maintenance or wind-down of dealings with the COSCO subsidiary until Feb. 4, 2020. The license was previously set to expire Dec. 20.
U.S. companies and exporters have not told the Trump administration that sanctions on Venezuela are hurting their business, according to Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special representative for Venezuela. As the U.S. continues one of its most active sanctions regimes (see 1911190028) against a country it says is marred by corruption and human rights abuses, companies are becoming more understanding of U.S. foreign policy goals, Abrams said.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
Poland recently made several changes to its value-added tax filing rules, expanding the scope of data that requires reporting, according to a Dec. 17 post from KPMG. The changes, which take effect in July, will require companies to report data about “special sales documents, about special goods or services sold, if there were special sales procedures (including electronic or distance sales), about special purchase documents and about special purchase procedures,” KPMG said.
Bulgaria made several changes to its value-added tax law that will take effect Jan. 1, including implementing the European Union’s “quick fixes” reform, amendments to VATs for supply of goods and changes to VAT registration, according to a Dec. 16 KPMG alert. Along with the quick fixes (see 1912120015), which were approved by the EU earlier this year and are aimed at simplifying trade between member states, Bulgaria will extend the “notion” of “supply of goods” to cover “the transfer of any right to dispose with goods as owner.” In these cases, “no VAT taxable supply will be deemed to take place upon construction … of state or municipal-infrastructure,” KPMG said, and the supplier should “deduct input VAT on the incurred expenses related to the infrastructure under the general rules of the law.” In another change, foreign people or companies not established in Bulgaria “and performing domestic taxable supplies” will have to register for VAT purposes prior to “performing their first taxable supply, irrespective of the taxable turnover generated,” the alert said.
The Canada Border Services Agency posted the Departmental Consolidation of the Customs Tariff for 2020, it said in a notice. “The 2020 Tariff reflects description and structural simplification changes from Statistics Canada as well as scheduled rate reductions contained within the legislation of individual free trade agreements,” the CBSA said. The changes will be active in the Customs Commercial System starting Jan. 1, 2020, it said.
Singapore Customs’ TradeNet will undergo system maintenance from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m. local time on Dec. 29, Singapore said in a Dec. 17 notice. The agency is advising users to avoid submitting applications during this time. This is in addition to usual maintenance on Sundays from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.