The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation renewed a Russia-related license this week that authorizes certain payments involving sanctioned credit or financial institutions. The license, which was set to expire Nov. 6, was extended for two years through Nov. 7, 2027. OFSI also revised the definition of "designated credit or financial institution" and the license's reporting requirements.
China's Ministry of Finance officially published notices this week to suspend certain tariff rates on U.S. exports for one year, part of an agreement made between the two sides during trade talks in South Korea (see 2511030005). Beginning Nov. 10, China will suspend an additional 24% tariff rate on the U.S. for one year while maintaining a 10% additional tariff rate on certain U.S. goods, the ministry said, according to an unofficial translation of one notice. Another notice says China will suspend certain tariffs, beginning Nov. 10, that had applied to certain agricultural goods, including chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, according to state-run news outlet Xinhua.
The U.S. this week charged a Belorussian citizen with illegally exporting U.S. avionics and aircraft equipment to Russia, including for use by a company on the Entity List.
House Select Committee on China ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Del. James Moylan, R-Guam, introduced Nov. 4 a companion to a Senate bill that would require the executive branch to develop a strategy to counter deepening cooperation among U.S. "adversaries" in such areas as sanctions evasion and the sharing of restricted dual-use technology (see 2505290076).
Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said Nov. 4 that it’s his “expectation” that the final version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will contain his bill that aims to remove obstacles to defense trade within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. security partnership.
The U.S. should drop tariffs on EU steel from 50% to 15% and suspend Section 232 investigations targeting EU products as part of the two sides' trade framework announced in August (see 2508200052), said Bernd Lange, the chair of the EU Parliament’s Committee on International Trade. He also said the EU should work in a sunset provision that would end the agreement if the two sides haven’t made progress in 18 months.
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The U.S. government’s failure to cripple Huawei through export controls shows that it needs a different strategy to counter foreign threats to American technology competitiveness, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a new report last week. Although the U.S. should still use export controls in certain situations, they should always be applied with allies and used sparingly so as not to use up America’s “technology capital,” the think tank said.
The U.K. last week extended a general license that authorizes certain transactions related to humanitarian activities involving Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. The license was recently renewed through Nov. 14 (see 2410100030), and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation again renewed it, this time through Nov. 14, 2027. OFSI also amended certain reporting deadlines, revised the definition for “Relevant Person," changed the definition of “UK Funded Person” to include any person who has received U.K. government funding in the last five years, and more.
The EU this week published its fifth annual report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade policy, outlining steps that the bloc has taken to remove trade barriers, the status of various trade agreements, trade trends from the past year, and more.