Tennessee-based shipper Dollar General Logistics has accused Taiwanese ocean carrier Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. of failing to meet its minimum quantity commitments under service contracts for the period of May 2021 through April 2022, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission.

China this week criticized President Donald Trump's national security memorandum outlining a tougher approach to Cuba (see 2507010040), saying the U.S.'s "barbarian blockade and illegal sanctions" have violated Cuba's freedoms and hurt its people. "China firmly supports Cuba in following a development path fit for its national conditions, and opposes U.S. moves to abuse unilateral sanctions under the pretext of 'freedom' and 'democracy,'" a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said during a regularly scheduled July 2 press conference, according to an unofficial translation. "We urge the U.S. to immediately lift the blockade and sanctions against Cuba and remove the country from the list of 'state sponsors of terrorism.'"

The Government Accountability Office announced July 1 that it has published a restricted report, “Foreign Military Sales: DOD Is Not Meeting Timeliness Goals, but Efforts to Improve Process and Workforce Are Underway.”

Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., introduced a bill June 27 to require the State Department to develop “expedited and fixed timelines” for licensing decisions for certain defense exports, according to Congress.gov. The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Baumgartner’s office didn’t respond to a request for more information.

Vietnam will eliminate tariffs on U.S. goods as part of a trade deal agreed to this week, President Donald Trump said July 2 on Truth Social.

The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has published a new license statistics tracker on its homepage, which details the number of licenses it has received and adjudicated each month over the last year. The tracker also includes average processing times for each month.

Key Holding, a Delaware-based logistics company, was fined $608,825 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control to settle allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions on Cuba. OFAC said the company’s Colombian subsidiary illegally managed the logistics for 36 freight shipments from Colombia to Cuba.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s arms sales task force is considering recommending that the Trump administration create a joint “fusion cell” or office to help industry track the U.S. government’s review of defense export requests, a key lawmaker said July 2.

The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a California semiconductor developer and supplier $4.25 million for violating U.S. export controls against Huawei, saying it illegally forwarded more than 1,500 power controllers, smart power stages and related accessories to the Chinese company without a license.

The European Commission and Ukraine reached an agreement in principle on a modernized trade relationship following a review of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, the commission announced. The new deal centers on an "alignment of Ukraine to relevant EU production standards," a "robust safeguard clause" and improved trade flows, it said.