The U.S. announced sanctions on people, property and entities in Mali contributing to the country’s terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and human rights abuses, the White House said in a July 26 executive order. The sanctions impose asset freezes, restrict U.S.-related travel and block certain donations to Mali by anyone targeted with the measures.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s amendments to its reporting, procedures and penalties regulations are unnecessary, unclear and “overly burdensome” on the U.S. forwarding industry, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the agency. The comments stem from OFAC’s June 21 interim final rule on the regulations’ amendments, which expands the scope of certain transactions that must be reported to the Treasury (see 1906200036). The American Association of Exporters and Importers also criticized the amendments, saying they have caused U.S. companies a “great deal of confusion” (see 1907230054).

As the U.S. and the European Union continue to impose diverging sanctions measures, global businesses are being tasked with increasingly challenging compliance dilemmas, several trade experts said during a July 25 KPMG webinar. Companies are facing more strategic decisions about which countries they can and cannot afford to trade with and are reconsidering multiyear contracts because of the constantly changing sanctions landscape, the experts said.

George Mason University will open a new Anti-Illicit Trade Institute within the existing Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, the university said in a news release. David Luna, CEO of Luna Global Networks and a former U.S. diplomat, will help lead the program, GMU said. The new institute will also be led by Louise Shelley, a GMU professor, it said. "Beginning in 2020, the AITI will include a core of anti-illicit trade executive-tailored courses and online instruction related to developing effective strategies for fighting illicit markets; investigating and prosecuting illicit trade (the importance of intelligence -- and information-sharing across borders); targeting webs of corruption and criminality by following the money and 'value' (money-laundering/trade-based money-laundering); tackling cybercrime and dismantling online markets related to Intellectual Property (IP) crime including counterfeit and pirated goods; and other important anti-crime and criminal justice areas," it said.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

In the July 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 26 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The French National Assembly recently ratified the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the CBC reported. France's Senate must also approve the deal, but it can't overturn the National Assembly, according to the CBC. That brings the number of approvals of EU countries party to the agreement to about half, said Cyndee Todgham Cherniak, a lawyer at LexSage, in a blog post.

Canada is seeking public input on "economies that have publicly announced their own consultations or studies on potential [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] accession," Global Affairs Canada said in a notice. Those countries include South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom, it said. "The Government also welcomes views on the potential accession of any other Asia-Pacific economy. The Government may opt to launch further public consultations on specific economies that formally apply to accede to the Agreement." Submissions are due Aug. 25.

Canada is seeking public comments on its July 20 proposed regulations that would amend certain import regulations, improve the country’s trade remedy system, improve its verification of import data and find additional tools it can give its customs agency to “address price distortions more effectively when calculating margins of dumping,” the country said. The regulations stem from concerns raised by Canada’s steel industry about the country’s “ability to address unfairly traded imports,” Canada said. The proposed regulations are the result of a “30-day consultation” with Canadian industries and workers. Comments are due Aug. 5.