A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson sidestepped questions at a Beijing news conference May 17 about media reports suggesting new U.S.-China trade talks are off the table for now. Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping “have maintained contact through various means,” the spokesperson said. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t comment. The U.S. and China “intend to continue further discussions,” a USTR notice in the Federal Register said, officially proposing the 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods not previously dutied. Requests to appear at public hearings on the proposed List 4 tariffs are due June 10 in docket USTR–2019–0004 at regulations.gov, and written comments are due June 17, the same day the hearings are set to begin. Post-hearing rebuttal comments are due seven days after the hearings end.

China’s May 13 announcement of additional tariffs on U.S. imports is expected to impact more than 300 U.S. agricultural products that were valued at about $3 billion in 2017, according to a May 17 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. The products affected “encompass a broad range of categories,” USDA said, including “live animals and animal products, horticultural products, grains and oilseeds, food ingredients, prepared foods, wine and distilled spirits, and sweeteners.” Combined with earlier tariff increases announced by China since April 2018, “this brings the total number of U.S. agricultural and related products targeted” by China to over 1,000 products valued at about $22.6 billion in 2017, USDA said. USDA urges U.S. exporters to “check with their local importers to verify the changes in tariff treatment.”

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people and one entity under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act for Russia-related human rights violations, Treasury said in a May 16 notice. The sanctioned people include Russian government investigators and members of the Chechen Republic’s Terek Special Rapid Response Team.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 11 people and 10 entities in Mexico related to allegations of corruption, money laundering, drug trafficking and killings, Treasury said in a May 17 notice. The sanctions include the designation of a Mexican magistrate judge and former Mexican governor, Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

The European Union extended sanctions against Syria for one year, until June 1, 2020, the EU Council said in a May 17 notice. The sanctions include an oil embargo, restrictions on “certain investments," a freeze on Syrian central bank assets "held in the EU" and export restrictions on "equipment and technology" that could be used for “internal repression” and the “monitoring or interception” of internet or phone communications, the notice said. The EU Council also removed sanctions on five deceased people and two entities, one because it “ceased to exist” and another because “there were no longer grounds to keep it under restrictive measures,” the notice said. The move came about a week after the Trump administration announced it is extending U.S. sanctions against Syria (see 1905100018).

The Canada Border Services Agency is looking closely at surtax payments due on imports from the U.S. that were required as part of Canada's retaliatory tariffs, a CBSA spokesman said May 17. "The CBSA has been analysing import data and conducting compliance activities to verify that the correct amount of surtax was paid by importers since the summer of 2018," the spokesman said by email. "These activities are continuing on an ongoing basis and additional assessments of surtax owing are issued where appropriate." KPMG recently noted an uptick in CBSA audits on the surtaxes (see 1905130062).

U.S. exporters applauded the Trump administration's plans to roll back steel and aluminum tariffs and the decision by both Canada and Mexico to lift retaliatory tariffs.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is issuing a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions with Huawei and 68 of its affiliates without new licensing requirements set by their recent addition to the Entity List. The general license authorizes exports, re-exports and in-country transfers under pre-listing conditions if they are related to the continued operation of existing networks and equipment; support for existing Huawei handsets; cybersecurity research and vulnerability disclosure; or engagement necessary for the development of 5G standards by a recognized standards body. The general license is scheduled for publication in the May 22 Federal Register, and will remain in effect from May 20 through Aug. 19.

In the May 16 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The U.K. Department for International Trade is updating its open general export license for export of dual-use goods to European Union member states in case of a no-deal Brexit, it said in a notice. The scope of items ineligible for the license has been amended to align it with EU regulations that will be retained by the U.K. after the country’s withdrawal from the EU, the notice said. The newly ineligible items are listed in Annex IIg to the regulation, and include uranium and nuclear technologies, pathogens, genetically modified organisms and some chemicals, among other things. “This licence will come into force if the UK leaves the EU without a deal,” the notice said.