Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who voted against NAFTA, have endorsed the NAFTA rewrite, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The two had said they would oppose the USMCA unless it included a labor enforcement mechanism that carried consequences for Mexican imports from factories that weren't honoring workers' rights.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people involved in money laundering in Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as 17 entities and one vessel, Treasury said in a Dec. 13 press release. OFAC also issued three new counterterrorism-related frequently asked questions.

A Texas aviation consultant violated U.S. terrorism sanctions when it entered into a contract with Mahan Air, Iran’s sanctioned airline, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Dec. 12 notice. The company, Aero Sky Aircraft Maintenance, was issued a finding of violation by OFAC after it violated U.S. Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations in 2016 for “dealing in the property and interests in property” of Mahan Air, the notice said. Aero Sky eventually filed for bankruptcy and dissolved, Treasury said. OFAC released details of the violations because they would have “justified a strong civil monetary penalty.”

BOSTON -- If the Commerce Department follows through on plans to expand the limits of the Export Administration Regulations to further control foreign shipments to Huawei, it will have a “dramatic” impact on international supply chains, said Kevin Wolf, a trade lawyer with Akin Gump and Commerce’s former assistant secretary for export administration. The measures, which Commerce confirmed it was considering earlier this month (see 1912100033), include expanding the Direct Product Rule and broadening the de minimis rule to make more foreign-made goods subject to the EAR.

With the last round of consumer goods imported from China spared, and a reduction in Section 301 tariffs on about $120 billion in goods that were first subject to additional tariffs Sept. 1, some business interests welcomed the de-escalation, but warned that the U.S. should stay focused on more significant economic reforms in China. The tariffs on List 4a, which are at 15 percent and apply to about 3,800 8-digit tariff lines, will go to 7.5 percent.

BOSTON -- The Commerce Department is preparing six initial proposed rules to control exports of emerging technologies and hopes to release at least one before the end of the year, said Karen Nies-Vogel, the director of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Exporter Services, speaking during a Dec. 13 event hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center. A Commerce official said during a technical advisory committee meeting earlier this month that the agency is working on at least three rules (see 1912100019). While Commerce officials have said the technologies would be published this year (see 1910290062), delays have caused the publication to be pushed back.

Sidley Austin promoted Barbara Broussard to partner in the firm's Washington office, it said in a news release. Broussard works on “international trade compliance, specifically customs and economic sanctions, and has particular experience in reviewing international trade transactions,” according to her bio.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The United Arab Emirates introduced an excise duty on “sweetened beverages” and vaping products beginning Dec. 1, according to a Dec. 12 report from the Hong Kong Trade Council. The country will levy a 50 percent tax on sweetened drinks and a 100 percent tax on “electronic smoking devices and tools, as well as the liquids used” with the devices, the report said. The duty on sweetened drinks applies to any beverage that has added sugar or other sweeteners, and applies to “liquid, concentrate, powder, extract, or any product that may be converted into a drink.” Exclusions include drinks that contain a minimum of 75 percent milk, milk products or baby formula.

The Czech Republic is not expected to introduce a European Union-directive to implement “quick fixes” measures for value added taxes by the Jan. 1 deadline, KPMG said in a Dec. 11 post. The VAT quick fixes, approved by the EU earlier this year, are aimed at simplifying international trade, specifically across EU member states. While the quick fixes will take effect Jan. 1, the Czech Republic will likely delay their implementation because the country’s Chamber of Deputies has not yet discussed the proposal, the post said. This will likely create problems with Czech VAT-payers’ involvement in “intra-Community supply and acquisition of goods,” KPMG said. Specifically, issues may arise in situations where Czech VAT-payers withdraw goods from EU suppliers’ consignment warehouses in the Czech Republic and when Czech entities own inventories in a consignment warehouse in another EU member state, the post said.