The World Customs Organization will be reconsidering some classification decisions at the next Harmonized System Committee meeting in September, according to law firm Sandler Travis. The reconsideration involves classification decisions of "at least two products -- certain vitamins and certain RF generators and RE matching networks -- after reservations were filed by the U.S. and others against the classification decisions," Sandler Travis said in a June 20 email.

Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese entities to its Entity List, the latest escalation in the U.S. and China’s ongoing trade war. The move restricts the entities' ability to purchase certain U.S. products and will require licenses for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with a review policy of presumption of denial. The entities are: Chengdu Haiguang Integrated Circuit, Chengdu Haiguang Microelectronics Technology, Higon, Sugon and Wuxi Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology. The Wuxi Jiangnan Institute is owned by owned by the Chinese government, Commerce said.

In the June 20 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union is adopting changes to its system of tariff-rate quotas for agricultural and industrial products, it said in a notice published June 20 in the EU Official Journal. The changes include the creation of six new TRQs, increases to quantity for three TRQs, and the elimination of five TRQs, many because implementation of internationally-agreed tariff cuts for information technology goods mean they are no longer necessary. The changes mostly take effect July 1.

The European Union announced its latest round of tariff suspensions for goods that are otherwise unavailable in the EU, it said in a notice published June 20. Similar to what the U.S. Miscellaneous Tariff Bill allows, the duty suspensions allow products to be imported at reduced or zero duty rates. The EU is adding 97 products not currently covered by duty suspensions to its list, and modifying the conditions for 47 products that are already listed as covered by duty suspensions, it said. The EU is also ending 96 duty suspensions, either because it they are no longer in the “interest of the Union,” conflict with EU sustainability goals, or are no longer necessary because of internationally agreed tariff cuts for information technology goods. The changes apply from July 1.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The 2019 tariff rate quota for "food preparations containing more than 10 per cent but less than 50 per cent on a dry weight basis of milk solids, not in retail packaging" is nearly full, Global Affairs Canada said in a message to industry. As of March 12, 2019, there was only 14 kg of the access quantity remaining, it said in the June 19 message. "As soon as the TRQ level is fully reached, a broadcast message will be released stating that the TRQ is closed for the 2019 quota year and specific import permits under the tariff rate quota will not be issued in respect to the relevant goods." Also, "General Import Permit No. 100 – Eligible Agricultural Goods (GIP No. 100) will cover, for the balance of the 2019 quota year, unlimited imports classified under the 'over access commitment' tariff item number at the 'over access' tariff rate."

The owner of Rapid Export Services in Miami pleaded guilty on June 12 to one count of illegally smuggling goods from the U.S., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a June 20 news release. Juan Carlos Rodriguez Espinoza "faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine," the Department of Justice said. Rodriguez is said to have received 13 containers of alcohol and cigarettes in 2016 from Panama. He then arranged for the containers to be held in-bond at a bonded warehouse operated by Double Ace, Inc.

Senators on June 20 voted to block the sale of billions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after weeks of criticism from bipartisan members of Congress. The sale, originally announced by the Trump administration on May 24, used an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act to allow the State Department to bypass congressional approval and certify 22 arms transfers to the Middle East. But Democratic and Republican members in both the House and Senate criticized the move, saying it was a misuse of executive power (see 1906120066).

A Senate bill introduced June 13 with bipartisan support would require the Trump administration to submit reports to Congress on whether Hong Kong is following U.S. export control laws and sanctions. The requirement, part of a bill that would amend the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, would order the Treasury, State and Commerce secretaries to send several House and Senate committees a report on whether Hong Kong has enforced U.S. export controls with respect to “sensitive dual-use items” and abided by both U.S. and United Nations sanctions. The administration would need to submit the reports within 180 days after the enactment of the bill, which was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.