Vietnam Customs issued a decision to improve customs regulations and procedures, focusing on 2019-2021 with a plan for implementation of measures, according to a June 6 report from the General Department of Vietnam Customs’ mouthpiece CustomsNews website. The report said customs wants to “improve efficiency” by continuing with certain reforms and reducing the time and cost of loading and unloading goods at warehouses, yard and ports. The decision took effect May 27, the report said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will not attend the G-20 meeting in Japan, where he would have the opportunity for brief bilateral meetings with Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and European counterparts. Deputy USTR Dennis Shea will lead the U.S. delegation June 8 and 9.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control amended three Venezuela-related general licenses and issued frequently asked questions for guidance, OFAC said in a June 6 notice. OFAC amended General License 7A, which authorizes certain transactions related to PDV Holding, Inc. and CITGO Holding, Inc; General License 8, which authorizes certain transactions involving Petroleos de Venezuela for entities operating in Venezuela; and General License 13, which authorizes certain transactions involving Nynas AB. The addition to OFAC’s FAQs concerns the export and re-export of “diluents” to Venezuela. Diluents such as crude oil and naphtha "play a key role in the transportation and exportation of Venezuelan petroleum," which is a major revenue source for the regime of Nicolas Maduro, which the U.S. seeks to suppress.
The European Commission referred Spain to the European Union’s Court of Justice for imposing “disproportionate penalties” on Spanish taxpayers who violate sanctions, the EC said in a June 6 press release. Spanish taxpayers must report on any properties, bank accounts or financial assets they hold abroad, the press release said, and are sanctioned if the information is not reported accurately or on time, sometimes facing sanctions “higher than those for similar infringements in a purely domestic situation.” The EC said Spain’s sanctions penalties are “disproportionate and discriminatory,” and may “deter businesses and private individuals from investing or moving across borders in the Single Market.” Spain’s sanctions are “in conflict with the fundamental freedoms of the EU,” the EC said.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security renewed the temporary denial order of export privileges issued to Mahan Airways and several affiliated people and entities in 2018, according to an order signed by the Office of Export Enforcement on June 5. The order was renewed to “prevent an imminent violation” of more regulations, Commerce said.
House members and experts made the case for a quick and long-term reauthorization for the Export-Import Bank of the United States during a June 4 House Financial Services Committee hearing, saying the move could significantly benefit U.S. exporters and help counter China’s export credit agencies and state subsidies. The hearing came about a month after the Senate voted to confirm three appointees to the bank’s board of directors, giving the bank enough directors for a quorum to approve transactions of more than $10 million (see 1905080073).
The Commerce Department is planning to expand end-use checks for export controls, said Nazak Nikakhtar, the nominee for Commerce’s undersecretary for industry and security, a move she said is part of a broader reform movement to improve “export control coordination.”
President Donald Trump said the tariffs on goods from Mexico that were set to begin on June 10 will not take effect on that date after a deal was reached between the two countries. "I am pleased to inform you that The United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico," Trump said in a tweet. "The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended."
Squire Patton opened an international trade practice in Madrid, the law firm said in a June 3 news release. José María Viñals, previously head of the Madrid office for Lupicinio Abogados, will join the practice, it said.
Crane Worldwide Logistics recently opened a new office in Belgium, the company said in a news release. The office is near the Brussels International Airport and will have Fons de Haan as managing director.