Speaking at a cryptocurrency conference in New York, Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said more countries are turning to digital currencies to evade U.S. sanctions. She also stressed the importance of complying with the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions programs, rejected the notion of a “one-size-fits-all” compliance program and warned that Treasury is looking into small actors -- not just large companies -- who commit violations.

China plans to hit a wide range of goods from the U.S. with 10 percent tariffs in response to the Trump administration's increase in tariffs on Chinese goods (see 1905130002). Among the major items by value targeted by China on its 10 percent tariff list are food preparations in 2106.90.90, lasers other than laser diodes in 9013.20.00, and cast glass sheets in 7003.19.00. The tariffs are scheduled to take effect June 1.

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued its notice adding Huawei and 68 of the Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer’s affiliates to the Entity List. Effective May 16, the notice imposes a license requirement on Huawei and its listed affiliates for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, with a license review policy of presumption of denial. No license exceptions will be allowed for the listed entities. Shipments aboard a carrier to the port of export or re-export as of May 16 may proceed to their destination under their previous eligibility for a license exception or no license required. The notice is scheduled for publication May 21.

Wiggin and Dana has added David Laufman, former chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm said in a press release. Laufman will co-chair the firm’s National Security Practice Group and will join their White-Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practice Group and the International Trade Compliance Group, it said.

The United Kingdom’s HM Revenue & Customs recently imposed a £10,234.26 ($13,209.41) penalty on a U.K. exporter for unlicensed trading of body armor, it said in a notice to exporters. “The goods were not exported from the UK, but the transaction involved a UK national,” it said. “The Export Control Order 2008 requires a trade control licence when certain goods are exported from a country other than the UK.”

In the May 13 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The European Union on May 10 published a report on its member states’ procedures for domestic and cross-border value-added tax (VAT) refunds, including for VAT on imports. An EU directive issued in 2006 entitles importers and other purchasers of goods subject to VAT in a member state other than the country where they are established to a refund of that VAT if the goods or services are used for certain purposes. According to the report, 20 EU member states fully comply with the directive, but eight countries -- Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain – have procedures that don’t meet EU requirements. For example, Germany turns down some VAT refunds without explanation, while in some other countries, including Italy and Spain, national authorities can turn down VAT refund requests without explanation.

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

The Canada Border Services Agency is taking a closer look at surtaxes collected on "other US goods" as part of Canada's retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., KPMG said in a report. The agency has "come to the conclusion that the volume of imports of these products against the amount of surtax collected does not balance. So the CBSA [has] started to audit importers of all goods subject to surtaxes." There are more than 100 such audits underway in the Toronto area and "many more across Canada," KPMG said.

The Canada Border Services Agency updated a memorandum to include information on the CBSA's expanded role in "enforcing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s aquatic animal health and plant health requirements that overlap with the Agency’s role respecting the Aquatic Invasive Species Regulations," the CBSA said May 13.