The European Union Council is considering upholding sanctions placed on 17 Russians for “undermining or threatening” the sovereignty of Ukraine, the council said in a June 7 notice. The sanctions stem from a 2014 decision by the council. The notice contains a new statement of reasons for upholding the sanctions, which may be obtained by the sanctioned individuals before June 14, the notice said.
The United Kingdom’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a June 12 report rebuking the UK’s current sanctions policy, calling it “fragmented and incoherent.” The report called on the U.K.’s National Security Council “to begin an urgent review” of the country’s sanctions strategy and to report findings to Parliament by the end of 2019.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of June 12 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Vietnam Customs recently issued a deployment plan for its commitments under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to a June 12 report on Vietnam Customs' CustomsNews website. Under the plan, Vietnam Customs will develop a circular guiding implementation of CPTPP provisions on inspection and determination of country of origin for imported and exported goods, and with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade will develop a decree on verification of country of origin of imported goods, customs cooperation and preferential tariff rates, according to an unofficial translation of a Vietnam Customs press release. CPTPP entered into force Dec. 30, 2018, for the first six countries to ratify the agreement -- Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore – and entered into force Jan. 14, 2019, for Vietnam.
Hapag-Lloyd sent out a customer alert June 12 on recently imposed Indian restrictions on imports of peas. Imposed April 16, the restrictions apply to yellow peas, dun peas, kaspa peas, pigeon peas, mung beans (moong dal) and urad, and include licensing requirements, the carrier said in the emailed alert. Hapag-Lloyd said it will “continue to accept bookings of this commodity to India as it has not been prohibited rather only limited for quantity of import.” Exporters should “ascertain the validity of licenses and approvals for imports of the consignees in order to ensure that cargo is duly cleared at destination,” the carrier said. However, Hapag-Lloyd will only accept shipments of peas to India if they are accompanied by a letter of indemnity supplied by the shipper prior to booking acceptance, it said.
China appears to be formally laying the groundwork for export restrictions on rare earths, after previously only hinting in state media reports that they could be used to counter U.S. trade restrictions, according to an emailed update from the China-based consultancy Trivium. Citing a report from China's state-run Xinhua news service, Trivium said three Chinese ministries sent out survey teams June 10 to gather input from rare earths producers in several provinces. That follows three recent China National Development and Reform Commission symposiums where experts called for stricter export controls on rare earths, Trivium said. Though the survey was aimed at gathering “suggestions on how to improve protection and value of rare earths,” they also sought input on “further exerting the strategic value of rare earths and other resources,” according to an unofficial translation of the Xinhua report. The surveys signal that “Beijing is no longer hinting that it has the rare earths card at its disposal,” Trivium said. “Authorities have moved forward, and are seriously looking into the details of how exactly to implement export controls,” Trivium said. “Specifically, they are trying to understand how to minimize any negative impact on the domestic industry while maximizing external leverage.”
CBP is requesting comments by July 15 on an existing information collection for exports of self-propelled vehicles, it said in a notice. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or information collected.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iraq-based South Wealth Resources Company (SWRC), the “financial conduit” for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps-Qods Force, Treasury said in a June 12 press release. Treasury said SWRC has trafficked “hundreds of millions of dollars” in weapons to Iraqi militias. OFAC also sanctioned two SWRC associates, Makki Kazim ‘Abd Al Hamid Al Asadi and Mohammed Hussein Salih Al Hasani, for facilitating the IRGC’s access to Iraq’s financial system to evade U.S. sanctions. SWRC and its two associates are being sanctioned as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, the press release said.
Bipartisan members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the Trump administration’s emergency decision to sell millions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries, with the committee's top-ranking Democrat promising to explore “every possible avenue” to block the sales.
President Donald Trump has threatened to put tariffs on Mexico's auto exports despite a side letter -- already in force -- expressly prohibiting such an action. Then, he decided to put tariffs on all Mexican imports to force Mexico to stop migrants from coming to the U.S. to claim asylum.