Two U.S. dairy industry associations thanked the Trump administration for signing an initial trade deal with Japan but cautioned that more work has to be done to appease the industry.
While U.S. authorities have not released any details on U.S. tariff reductions for Japanese imports, even to stakeholders, a press release from Japan's Economy, Ministry and Industry describes the reductions, which will add up to tens of millions of dollars annually.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned one entity, three people and five ships for evading U.S. sanctions and delivering jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, Treasury said Sept. 26.
The U.S. does not plan on easing sanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, even after reports that the administration considered lifting restrictions to encourage a meeting between President Donald Trump and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (see 1909110039).
Imposing sanctions and export controls on certain people and entities in Hong Kong for human rights violations may not achieve the U.S.’s goal and may only hurt U.S. companies, said William Reinsch, an international business chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Several issues related to detention and demurrage remain to be addressed as the Federal Maritime Commission moves forward with its recent proposed rule on detention and demurrage practices, said Richard Roche of Mohawk Global Logistics, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America’s government affairs conference Sept. 23 in Washington. Key among these are notices of availability for cargo and charges for customs holds, he said.
Jordan recently opened a new free zone at the country’s Queen Alia International Airport, which will provide tax exemptions and reductions, and no customs duties for imported items used for operating a company in the zone, according to a Sept. 25 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The zone, which opened Sept. 2, expands the previous zone that was established at the airport in 1998 and will provide “strategic advantages,” the report said, such as “easy access to air cargo services, major road networks, the Hijaz railway, and the port of Aqaba.” Within the new zone are “an administrative building, two business parks for commercial offices, a logistical services building for customs clearance and insurance companies, as well as banks and restaurants.” Management of the zone falls under the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group, the government body that coordinates and manages the country’s five free zones and two development zones.
A top Japanese official asked Britain to avoid a no-deal Brexit scenario, saying it would hurt Japanese companies. “Japanese companies have great concerns and would like to avoid ‘leave without agreement,’” Isshu Sugawara, Japan’s trade minister, told the U.K.’s international trade minister during a recent meeting, according to an unofficial translation of a Sept. 25 press release.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 25 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Mexico is again allowing more time for importers to comply with new certificate of compliance requirements for some Mexican product standards at the time of entry, the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations said in a recent circular. After two previous 15-day extensions, an importer will now have a longer grace period extending until Oct. 31 to obtain a certificate of compliance from a recognized certification body. Until the time period expires, importers that have not yet obtained the certificate may continue their current operations unchanged, as long as they submitted their request to the certification body by June 30 and include a receipt number for the request in their entry documentation.