China is imposing “special safeguard measures” on eight Australian beef-related agricultural products, China’s General Administration of Customs said in an Aug. 17 notice, according to an unofficial translation. China said Australian beef imports on Aug. 15, under six tax codes, exceeded the quantity that can be imported in 2019. The country resumed taxing the imports under Most Favored Nation tariffs on Aug. 17.

Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for four people after they exported guns, ammunition and other defense-related items from the U.S. to Lebanon, BIS said Aug. 13. The four people -- Ali Afif Al Herz, Sarah Majid Zeaiter, Adam Al Herz and Bassem Afif Herz -- were convicted in 2016 of violating the Arms Export Control Act by exporting items on the U.S. Munitions List without State Department licenses. Each was sentenced to prison and placed on the State Department’s Debarred List.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Dominican Republic-based drug trafficking organization, its owner, supporters and several businesses run by the organization’s owner, Treasury said in an Aug. 20 press release. The sanctions include designations under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act against the Peralta Drug Trafficking Organization, Dominican national Cesar Emilio Peralta, and eight more Dominican nationals for supporting the organization and nightclubs owned by Peralta.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released its Biennial Report on Licensing Activities detailing license applications the agency processed for authorization to export to Iran and Sudan. The Aug. 19 report, which covers OFAC actions from October 2014 to September 2016, is mandated by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 and covers OFAC applications that request permission to export “agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices” to Iran and Sudan. The report includes the number of applications OFAC received, issued and denied. OFAC requested public comments on the TSRA’s licensing procedures in 2018 and said it received one comment that pointed to the “difficulties in using the financial mechanisms in place for making payments related to transactions” under the TSRA.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the notion that the Trump administration has sent mixed messages on Huawei, saying the president’s plans have “been unambiguous.” Pompeo’s comments came days after Trump said the U.S. would not be extending a temporary general license for Huawei, followed by the Commerce Department extending the license for 90 days (see 1908190039).

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 12-16 in case they were missed.

A lack of trade facilitation, infrastructure and widespread corruption are three of the main challenges stymieing trade in the Northern Triangle, which could be improved with U.S. help, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee Rapid Response Subcommittee said in a report prepared for the Aug. 21 COAC meeting. The report, compiled from COAC’s Northern Triangle Working Group, issued several recommendations for improving trade, including specific adjustments Northern Triangle countries can make to their customs agencies, an enhanced foreign-trade zone in the area, training from U.S. customs officials and better trade enforcement.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expects Canada's Parliament to continue progress on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in the fall following October elections, he said in recently posted written responses to House Ways and Means Committee members following a June 19 hearing (see 1906190062). "The Trudeau government has begun necessary steps to ratify the USMCA in its Parliament and has stated that it plans to move forward on implementation in tandem with the United States," he said. "The Canadian Parliament has adjourned for the summer and is not expected to return before federal elections are held on October 21, 2019. We anticipate that Canada will take up the legislation once a new government is seated later this fall, and we are confident that the Parliament will vote in favor of the Agreement."

Britain's Department for International Trade released an Aug. 19 guidance on exporting controlled goods after Brexit, detailing changes exporters may face if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal. The guidance covers exporting military items, firearms, dual-use goods, civil nuclear material and how exporters can best prepare for the changes. The U.K. suggested exporters use the “goods checker” tool to check if they will need an export license when shipping to EU countries.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Aug. 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):