Several speakers at a Capitol Hill event hosted by the Burma Research Institute April 28 called for sanctioning Myanmar’s military junta for human rights violations against civilians.
The U.K. issued a new version of a Russia-related legal services general license to reset the cap on fees that can be paid to British law firms by parties subject to Russia-related sanctions. The legal fees cap is set at about $2.68 million (or 2 million pounds) per law firm and the expenses cap at 10% of the legal fees, up to about $268,000 (or 200,000 pounds), for the duration of the license. The license takes effect April 29 and expires Oct. 28. The previous license expired April 28 (see 2410290017).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three vessels and their owners for supporting the Yemen-based Houthis and the group's attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, including by supplying them with oil shipments.
Japanese lawmakers this week urged the Trump administration to continue engaging with allies on economic security issues and to not close off America from Japanese investment, saying Japanese companies will help grow American exports and reduce the U.S. trade deficit.
Recent U.S. trade actions, such as the IEEPA tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives, and the temporarily paused reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries worldwide, could cause global container volumes to slump by 1% in 2025, according to U.K-based maritime shipping advisory firm Drewry.
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on April 25 agreed to establish a panel to review the EU's countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The panel was created following China's second request to do so, because Beijing says the CVD violate Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (see 2408140010).
Guatemala and Peru told the World Trade Organization on April 23 that they resolved a dispute brought by Guatemala against Peru's additional duties on imports of certain agricultural products. The Guatemalan government said Peru "has adopted the necessary measures to comply with the recommendations and rulings" of the Dispute Settlement Body. Specifically, the dispute concerned Peru's variable additional duties on agricultural products, which were calculated under a price band system. A DSB panel previously found that Peru's duties violate WTO commitments.
The EU opened arbitration proceedings at the World Trade Organization on April 24 to review a dispute panel's findings on China's enforcement of intellectual property rights. The EU started the proceedings under the WTO's Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which has been regarded by some nations as an alternative to the defunct Appellate Body. The WTO said the case marks the second time both the EU and China have turned to the MPIA to settle a dispute between them.
The State Department has approved a possible $2.19 billion military sale to the Netherlands, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said April 25. The sale includes “Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and related equipment,” and the principal contractor will be RTX Corp.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., both tweeted their support April 25 for Paraguay’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization (see 2504240065).