The European Union has reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. on importation of non-hormone-treated U.S. beef, according to an alert from the Cheese Importers Association of America. The U.S. beef industry had been pressuring for the re-imposition of retaliatory tariffs because the EU had purportedly not been adhering to an agreement to increase market access for U.S. beef by way of a tariff-rate quota for beef produced without growth-promoting hormones, the alert said. The deal would still need to be approved by EU member states and the U.S., and the EU must also reach agreements with Australia and Uruguay as the two biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. inability to fill the TRQs, the CIAA said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative "has not issued any formal statement regarding the EU-claimed agreement," the trade group said.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of March 27 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
Meat permissions that were issued to businesses under the Meat Inspection Regulations will expire on March 31, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in an email. Those regulations were repealed and businesses will need "a Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence commencing April 1, 2019 to continue to operate in compliance with applicable regulations and avoid disruptions to trade," the CFIA said. "Continuing to trade in import, export or interprovincial trade without an SFC licence contravenes the Safe Food for Canadians Act and its Regulations, and may result in enforcement actions by the CFIA," the agency said.
China's refusal of canola imports from Canada is the result of "precautionary quarantine measures to ensure safety," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in a Chinese state media report. China reportedly said recently it would block entry of canola imports from another Canadian firm after previously doing the same to Richardson International (see 1903060058).
After 25 Republican House members met with President Donald Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to talk about how to ratify the new NAFTA, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said on Fox Business News March 26 that he thinks Congress can do it before the August recess.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $1.9 million settlement with a Connecticut-based industrial tool manufacturer and its China-based subsidiary after OFAC said the companies violated U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran, according to a March 27 notice. The U.S. company -- Stanley Black & Decker -- and the Chinese subsidiary -- Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co. (GQ) -- attempted to export 23 “shipments of power tools and spare parts” worth more than $3 million to Iran from mid-2013 to the end of 2014, OFAC said.
Sanctions on North Korea have not been working, a United Nations Panel of Experts official told a House subcommittee on March 27, adding that North Korea has made no progress toward denuclearization.
Hogan Lovells hired Anne Salladin, previously special counsel at Stroock & Stroock, as a partner in the firm's international trade practice, it said in a news release. "Salladin will advise clients on issues relating to international business and national security, particularly as they relate to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)," Hogan Lovells said. Salladin was senior counsel in the Treasury Department's Office of Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs, "which provides legal advice to the Secretary of the Treasury as Chairperson of CFIUS," before joining the private sector, the law firm said.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
A timber conglomerate backed by a prominent Chinese national is illegally extracting timber from Gabon and the Republic of the Congo, watchdog group Environmental Investigation Agency said in a March 25 news release. The Dejia Group is alleged to have supplied timber to the U.S. and "other countries where the importation of illegally sourced timber is a crime, including France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Greece," the EIA said. U.S. authorities are currently investigating possible Lacey Act violations related to the use of veneers from Evergreen Hardwoods Inc. (see 1903190027), which EIA said is a major importer of Dejia Group timber. “The Dejia-Evergreen case demonstrates the need for US authorities to routinely check due diligence systems, and to vigorously enforce the Lacey Act,” said Lisa Handy, director of EIA’s Forest Campaign. “Otherwise, illegal timber will continue to flow into the US, and American consumers will remain unwitting supporters of devastating forest crime.” The EU should consider all timber products from the Republic of the Congo and Gabon high risk under the EU Timber Regulations, EIA said in recommendations based on the report.