Clete Willems, former deputy director of the National Economic Council who represented the U.S. during China trade talks this year, will join Akin Gump as a partner in June, the firm announced April 25. “The trade landscape has rarely been as important to companies around the world as it is now, and Clete will be an invaluable resource for clients seeking to navigate this terrain,” said Brian Pomper, co-head of Akin Gump’s public law and policy practice.

Daniel Feldman, previously with Akin Gump, joined the Covington & Burling Global Problem Solving group, the law firm said in a news release. Feldman's practice includes "advising on global political risks, corporate social responsibility and sustainability matters, and compliance with U.S. law and international best practices on global policy concerns, including sanctions and anti-corruption efforts," it said. He was a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department before joining the private sector.

The United Kingdom is negotiating agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Algeria to continue current trade relations in the event that the U.K. leaves the European Union with no transition deal, the UK Department for International Trade said on two new webpages on trade with the countries. “If agreed, these arrangements could maintain the effects” of the EU trade deals with Bosnia and Algeria after a no-deal Brexit, it said. If the U.K. leaves with no deal and no agreement is reached with each respective country, each of the existing trade agreements would no longer apply, the pages said. “This would mean the UK would not have preferential trade arrangements for exports to” Algeria and Bosnia. The U.K. is also making efforts to sign a similar deal with South Korea (see 1904230030), and already has such deals in place with several other countries, including Switzerland.

The European Union is setting new rules on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain, it said in a notice in the April 25 Official Journal. The directive from the EU Parliament and European Council provides that EU member states should prohibit certain practices, including late payment, cancellation of orders for perishables on short notice, unilateral changes to certain terms of supply agreements, payments not related to the sale of the agricultural or food products and acts of commercial retaliation, among other things. The rules apply to situations where the buyer committing the act is larger than the supplier, as defined in size categories laid out in the directive, or the supplier that commits the act is very large. The directive sets a mechanism for submitting complaints, and provides that member states have investigatory powers and may impose fines and penalties for unfair trading practices under the directive. The new rules apply not only to suppliers and buyers inside the EU, but also to non-EU buyers and suppliers doing business in the EU.

In the April 25 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Commission on April 24 adopted a proposal to create a new exemption from excise and value added tax for supplies for armed forces of European Union member states that are taking part in a European defense effort, it said in a press release. The newly adopted exemption mirrors one currently in place for EU armed forces participating in North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense operations, it said. “Under the new rules, armed forces deployed outside their own Member State would not pay VAT or excise duty to other Member States when they take part in a NATO defence effort or in a defence activity under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). By aligning the indirect tax treatment of both defence efforts, the initiative acknowledges the growing importance of the CSDP and military mobility which require supplies such as training materials, accommodation, provision of food and fuel -- all in principle currently subject to VAT,” the commission said.

The Department of Justice is drawing closer to completing regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Hickey said, and is “working closely” with the Treasury Department to develop regulations for the “expanded authority” it grants the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Speaking at the National Conference on CFIUS and Team Telecom on April 24, Hickey presented FIRRMA and CFIUS as making the U.S. a more “attractive” alternative for investment than China while criticizing that country’s “foreign ownership restrictions, joint venture requirements” and “vague” approval processes that allow the Chinese government to “pressure [U.S. companies] to transfer their technology as a condition of market access.”

China and Japan will implement the mutual recognition arrangement for Authorized Economic Operator programs on June 1, the China General Administration of Customs said in a notice, according to an unofficial translation. The countries signed the MRA in October last year. The MRA allows for China to recognize companies certified by Japan's AEO program as certified by China's program and vice versa. The programs give AEO-certified companies expedited customs clearance and reduced inspections, among other benefits. China AEO companies exporting to Japan will need to notify the importer of the AEO company code so the Japanese importer can fill in the required information for the country's customs requirements, according to the translation. "After confirming the identity of China's AEO company, relevant convenience measures will be given," China said. Chinese importers will similarly need to provide a Japanese company's AEO code to receive the benefits, it said.

CBP denied a request from MDT Armor Corp. that the company's temporary importation bond (TIB) be extended after it exported a vehicle beyond the TIB expiration date. CBP said in the April 9 ruling that it found MDT's explanations to be lacking. Panmet Group, an agent working on behalf of MDT, told CBP that it did submit a timely TIB extension request and "was under the impression that the request had been processed." CBP's ruling only applies to the TIB extension request and not liquidated damages, the agency said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a settlement of $75,375 with Haverly Systems, a New Jersey software company with offices in Texas and California, for violations of the Ukraine Related Sanctions regulations, OFAC said in an April 25 enforcement notice. Haverly violated the sanctions twice between May 2016 and January 2017 when it “dealt in new debt of greater than 90 days maturity” with JSC Rosneft, a Russian oil company that was designated under Ukraine-related sanctions, OFAC said.