Leaders from South Korea and Saudi Arabia discussed “economic cooperation” and signed an agreement that will increase exports of “testing materials,” according to a press release from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on “technical cooperation in the field of energy efficiency,” which will lead to “exporting testing materials and consulting on energy efficiency,” the release said. The countries also agreed to “strengthen support in automobiles … [information and communications technology (ICT)], smart city, and airport construction,” and supported the possibility of more agreements in the future. The meeting was the second in a series for the Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 Committee, an effort by the two countries to strengthen bilateral ties.

The Philippines recently lifted certain restrictions on rice imports and replaced them with tariffs, revoking specific requirements that forced traders to apply for licenses from the National Food Authority (NFA) and allowing the country’s president to change duty rates, according to an April 11 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Indonesia revoked a regulation that would have imposed value-added taxes on luxury goods bought and sold through e-commerce, according to an April 15 notice from KPMG. The regulation was initially scheduled to take effect April 1, but Indonesia reversed the change in late March, KPMG said. Because the VAT change was withdrawn, KPMG said, the “existing income tax regulations” will continue to apply for all e-commerce transactions.

The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending it regulations on grade and size requirements for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and pummelos grown in Florida. The final rule removes grade and size requirements for Ambersweet and Temple oranges, and simplifies tables in the regulations outlining grade and size requirements for interstate and export shipments. It does not make any substantial changes to related provisions for imported grapefruits, AMS said. The final rule takes effect May 18.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Central Bank of Venezuela and its director, Iliana Josefa Ruzza Teran, for operating in the country’s financial sector and being used as a “tool of the illegitimate [Nicolas] Maduro regime,” OFAC said in a April 17 press release. Along with the sanctions, OFAC amended five Venezuela-related general licenses and issued two new general licenses that authorize certain dealings, bonds and transactions with Venezuela and several Venezuelan banks, including the Central Bank of Venezuela, according to an enforcement notice.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Nicaraguan bank and the son of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, OFAC said in an April 17 press release. Banco Corporativo SA (BanCorp) and Laureano Ortega Murillo are being sanctioned for working to support corruption within the Nicaraguan government, OFAC said.

The European Union’s list of $20 billion in U.S. exports that could get hit with retaliatory tariffs is heavy on fishery and agricultural products and food, including wines and spirits, but also includes goods found elsewhere in the tariff schedule. That includes raw materials and chemicals, including coal, some medical products, plastics, travel goods and other bags and containers, cotton, tractors and games.

Applied Materials ordered staff to suddenly stop doing business with customer Xiamen Sanan Optoelectronics, a day after the Chinese LED chip maker appeared on a U.S. government “unverified list” of foreign entities (see 1904100017), according to a Nikkei Asian Review report. California-based Applied supplies semiconductor production equipment and large-area deposition systems for LCD and OLED display manufacturing. Xiamen Sanan describes itself as China’s “largest LED epitaxial wafer and chip manufacturer, endeavoring to become top 1 in the global LED industry.” Applied didn't comment. Efforts to reach Xiamen Sanan, whose shares are listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, were unsuccessful.

CBP Chief Operating Officer John Sanders will take over as CBP commissioner in an acting capacity while CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan is the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, DHS said in a news release.

Algeria recently lifted an import ban it imposed in 2018 on about 850 products, replacing it with temporary safeguard duties on more than 1,000 food and industrial goods, according to an April 12 notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. About 60 percent of those goods are food products, the notice said, with most of them being “processed and high value products.” While many of the goods U.S. exporters send to Algeria -- including “bulk and intermediate commodities” such as wheat, barley, corn, rice and soybeans -- are not included on Algeria’s temporary safeguard list, the list does include “tree nuts,” a “key” U.S. export to Algeria, the notice said. Algeria imported “an average of $33 million of tree nuts (almonds, walnuts and pistachios) from the United States” over the 2009-2017 calendar years, the notice said. The safeguard duties list shows “tree nuts are subject to 30 percent additional tax [i.e., the safeguard duty] to be added to the existing 30 percent custom duties plus the 19 percent of Value-Added Tax (VAT),” the notice said.