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.

In the March 26 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Intra-European Union licenses required for very sensitive dual-use items that authorize the export of goods from an EU member state to the United Kingdom will still be valid when and if the U.K. leaves the EU with no transition deal in place, he EU said in a fact sheet issued March 21. These intra-EU transfer licenses, if issued before the U.K.’s withdrawal date, "should be considered as valid licences for exports to the United Kingdom as of the withdrawal date, and until the validity of the licence expires,” the EU said. The fact sheet reiterates that, for dual-use goods, exports from the EU to the U.K. will become subject to the EU’s export control regime after a no-deal Brexit, and any licenses issued by the U.K. for exports from the EU to a third-country will no longer be valid.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows: