A European Commission executive told webinar listeners that while politicians in the West are viewing trade differently, remaining open to free trade is vital for the European Union's prosperity. Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, spoke Feb. 4 at the World Trade Symposium hosted by The Economist. “We have retired the old idea of free trade at any price,” she said. In this decade, Europe will be looking at trade through the prism of human rights, workers' rights, best recycling practices, digitalization and climate change, she said.
The International Court of Justice threw out U.S. objections to Iran's case against the U.S.'s extensive sanctions regime that say this case is outside the court's scope. In a Feb. 3 decision, the ICJ rejected the U.S. notions that the court didn't have jurisdiction over matters of trade or transactions between Iran and third countries and of the underlying treaty in which Iran staked its claim. Iran claims that the 2018 U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions violates the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights. It brought its case to the ICJ following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reimpose sanctions. The ICJ decision cannot be appealed and will lead to the court hearing Iran's main claim on the merits next.
Commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo was asked several times in written questions from senators after her hearing about how she would balance the need to prevent cutting edge technologies from being shared with adversaries but also allow U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to compete with foreign companies that don't have the same restrictions on selling chips.
In the Senate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is being added to the Finance Committee, the Senate majority leader announced Feb. 2. In the House, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., are joining the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee chairman announced Feb. 2. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who has been a very active member of the Trade Subcommittee, will now head the Oversight Subcommittee. Republicans added three members to the Ways and Means Committee to replace two members who retired, and to reflect their larger numbers in the House: Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.Va.; Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa.; and Kevin Hern, R-Okla.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
South Africa recently updated its list of banned and restricted goods for import and export, according to a Feb. 2 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The list, issued last month, includes certain food products, weaponry, chemicals, auto parts and fabrics. Each item is subject to different levels of trade restrictions and may require permits from the government.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Feb. 3 (some may also be given separate headlines):
Mexico announced changes to its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program to offer customs-related benefits for maquiladora factories. One of the largest changes allows tariff relief for a period of 36 months for items imported temporarily into Mexico or with regard to maquiladora factories, merchandise transferred to companies not operating under the IMMEX (Industria Manufacturera, Maquiladora y de Servicio de Exportación) regime, KPMG said in an alert Feb. 2. Mexico also added two additional digits to its commercial identification numbers to exert more statistical control over its import and export transactions, along with eliminating certain low-volume tariff items and subheadings -- changes made effective at the end of 2020. Other changes include the possibility of canceling value-added tax certifications if companies did not timely submit their renewal request at the end of 2020. Also, firms must now evaluate the implications of “subcontracted” personnel for VAT certification purposes, as the information from suppliers must be updated, due to labor reforms in USMCA.
The U.S. moved to seize all oil aboard a Liberia-flagged vessel, the M/T Achilleas, via a forfeiture complaint filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the oil is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the IRGC-Qods Force, both U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations. The complaint alleges the IRGC and IRGC-Qods Force schemed to deliver the oil to a customer abroad and that the origins of the oil were disguised using ship-to-ship transfers, falsified documents, and other means to trick the owners of the Achilleas into transporting the oil, the Department of Justice announced in a Feb. 3 news release.
Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate to be Department of Homeland Security secretary, on a 56-43 vote. All Democrats and independents who caucus with Democrats voted for confirmation, as did six Republicans.