The U.S.-China Business Council urged the Trump administration to reconsider his threat of a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, saying the threats will hurt the reputation and businesses of U.S. exporters, in an Aug. 1 press release.
The U.S. publicly sanctioned two Venezuelan military officials for “gross violations of human rights,” the State Department said Aug. 2. The agency said the U.S. sanctioned Rafael Enrique Bastardo Mendoza, commander of Venezuela’s police special forces, and Ivan Rafael Hernandez Dala, commander of military counter intelligence, for acts that were “documented extensively in the July 5, 2019 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ... [that] noted at least 7,523 extrajudicial killings documented by a Venezuelan non-governmental organization.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that “in addition to the designation of Bastardo and Hernandez, I am publicly designating Bastardo’s spouse, Jeisy Catherine Leal Andarcia, and Hernandez’s spouse, Luzbel Carolina Colmenares Morales, as well as the minor children of both officials.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 1 to give the State and Treasury departments the ability to impose more sanctions on countries using chemical or biological weapons. The new sanctions include restrictions on financial loans by international banks, blocking measures and trade controls.
The European Union council removed two people from its Libya sanctions list, the EU said Aug. 2. The EU delisted Abdussalam Mohammed Abdussalam and Abdulqader Mohammed al-Baghdadi.
U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 1907080019) will not lead to a clear outcome, said Sarah Ladislaw, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Energy and National Security Program, adding that the U.S.’s failure may leave it without a contingency plan.
Japan officially approved removing South Korea from its so-called whitelist of trusted trading partners, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Aug. 2, adding that it will begin enforcing the decision Aug. 28. The move was expected after Japan introduced a bill earlier this month as the two countries become embroiled in a trade dispute (see 1907300058).
As the U.S. continues to impose broad sanctions, companies are increasingly turning away from deals, fearing compliance risks, sanctions lawyers and experts said. While the Trump administration has tried to mitigate sanctions impacts on industry through advance notices, guidance and wind-down periods, the experts said, some of the damages have been unavoidable.
China is suspending purchases of U.S. agricultural products in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an additional 10-percent tariff on Chinese imports, according to an unofficial translation of a press release from China's Ministry of Commerce. China, calling Trump’s move a “serious violation” of negotiations, also said it is not ruling out imposing new import tariffs on “newly purchased” U.S. agricultural products. China said it has a “large market capacity” for U.S. agricultural goods and said it hopes the U.S. “will conscientiously implement the consensus reached” during the two sides’ last meeting.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
Antwerp’s MPET Terminal will no longer accept physical customs documents “with [movement reference numbers] MRN for export containers,” beginning Aug. 12, according to an Aug. 1 email alert from Hapag-Lloyd. Paper customs documents without MRN are still required at the terminal, including military 302 documents, “export or T1 customs documents issued under an emergency procedure” and “carnet ATA documents,” the alert said. All customs documents with MRN must be registered in advance through the “C-Point eDesk application,” the alert said. Other terminals are expected to begin similar procedures in the “near future, Hapag-Lloyd said.