The Trump administration warned Europe that anyone associated with the creation of the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges, or INSTEX, could face U.S. sanctions, according to a May 29 report from Bloomberg. The report cites a May 7 letter from Treasury Department official Sigal Mandelker to INSTEX President Per Fischer. “I urge you to carefully consider the potential sanctions exposure of Instex,” Mandelker, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, wrote in the letter, according to Bloomberg. “Engaging in activities that run afoul of U.S. sanctions can result in severe consequences, including a loss of access to the U.S. financial system.”

U.S. exporters and others expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s May 30 threat to impose new tariffs on Mexico, saying the move would lead to retaliatory measures and would significantly damage U.S. manufacturers and farmers.

The temporary general license issued by the U.S. after it added Huawei Technologies to its Entity List has offered “almost no relief” for the U.S. semiconductor industry, which has been hurt severely by the move, said John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Speaking on U.S.-China trade issues at a Washington International Trade Association discussion on May 29, Neuffer underscored the importance of the Chinese market to U.S. semiconductor exporters and called on the Trump administration to more tactfully negotiate with China. “We would like the U.S. government to better balance its national security concerns with its economic security concerns,” Neuffer said.

Flash sales of deeply discounted products can be used to determine the transaction value as long as the required provisions are met, according to the World Customs Organization Technical Committee on Customs Valuation in a recently adopted advisory opinion. Similarly, the committee said that "the discounted price could be used to determine the transaction value of identical or similar goods for which there is no transaction value" if other provisions are met, the WCO said in a news release. "This Advisory Opinion will be submitted to the WCO Council for approval at its Sessions of June 2019," the WCO said.

In the May 29 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of May 29 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Canada published a notice on refunds for surtaxes paid on steel goods that were subject to temporary safeguard duties but not final safeguards, in the Canada Gazette, Part II. "The Safeguard Surtax Refund Order provides refunds for provisional safeguard surtaxes paid on imports of rebar, energy tubular products, hot-rolled sheet, pre-painted steel and wire rod, as well as imports of heavy plate and stainless steel wire from Korea, Panama, Peru and Colombia specifically," the notice said. "Refunds are granted for such goods that have been imported on or after October 25, 2018, for which surtaxes have been collected under the Provisional Surtax Order, provided that no other relief of the surtax has been granted."

Canada updated the Customs Tariff with a list of subheadings covered by the final safeguards for steel goods, according to an order to amend the import control list published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The country announced plans to impose final safeguards on steel plate and stainless rod in April (see 1904040051).

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will begin to add the first commodity group of a phased-in approach for implementing organic import requirements in the Automated Import Reference System on June 10, the CFIA said in a May 28 email. The agency previously said it would begin the phase-in on May 29 (see 1905070054).

The Canada Border Services Agency updated Memorandum D19-13-2 to include multiple revised definitions and other information. The CBSA said the following changes were made: