House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., joined by fellow committee members Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., asked the Biden administration to reinstate Magnitsky Sanctions against Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman with mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Russian government in November 2020 approved a proposal to replace its tariff rate quotas on imported beef with a flat rate tariff of 27.5%, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report Feb. 1. The proposal now awaits approval by the Eurasian Economic Commission, and, if approved, would enter into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. High-quality beef would remain unaffected as it is currently not subject to quotas. The U.S. has not had market access in Russia for its beef exports since 2014 when Moscow banned U.S. agriculture and livestock exports in apparent retaliation for the U.S.'s stance on Russia's support for Ukrainian rebels (see 1412230061). Prior to 2014, U.S. beef exports operated under a 15% tariff rate, and if Russia decides to lift its ban on American beef in 2022, that rate will apply to high-quality beef, but all other beef exports would be subjected to the 27.5% flat rate.

A U.S. adhesive manufacturing company said it was issued a warning letter from the Treasury Department after disclosing potential violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to the company’s Jan. 26 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. H.B. Fuller said customers of its subsidiaries in Turkey and India may have sold its hygiene products into Iran, which would have violated U.S. sanctions. The company said it disclosed the violations to the Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2018, and in December OFAC issued a cautionary letter with no penalty. H.B. Fuller said the transactions at the center of the potential violations represented less than 1% of the company’s 2018 net revenue.

Mediterranean Shipping Company will pay over $80,000 to settle allegations that it violated anti-boycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations, according to documents recently posted to the Bureau of Industry and Security website. The steamship line’s Chicago office allegedly agreed to requests to add Israel boycott clauses to shipping documentation, and failed to report those requests as required by the EAR, BIS said in charging documents.

While just two weeks into the Biden administration, any sense of urgency needed to bring the U.S. back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to dismantle Iran's ability to create a nuclear weapon is not being felt from either the Americans or Europeans. Speaking at a Feb. 3 Chatham House event on the future of the JCPOA, Middle East experts Dalia Dassa Kaye and Azadeh Zamirirad from the Wilson Center and the Middle East and Africa Division, SWP Berlin, respectively, both shared the view of a lack of urgency amid high expectations for the new U.S. president to lead the U.S. to rejoin the agreement.

Morocco Tanger Med 2 officially opened its third container terminal, adding to the country’s Port of Tanger Med, the largest capacity port in the Mediterranean, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Jan. 22. The new $215 million terminal can service 1.5 million “20-foot equivalent” unit containers annually, the HKTDC said. Morocco is expected to gradually increase the terminal’s capacity until it becomes fully operational by June, HKTDC said.

The U.S. has not publicly released all the companies that have applied for an extended period to get their North American-made vehicles into compliance with the tighter rules of origin, but both Canada and Mexico have published the list of 12 companies that have been approved. Since all three countries must approve alternative staging regimes, it follows that these companies' transition plans are cleared by the U.S., as well. The press office of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is in transition with a change in administrations.

Singapore Customs issued a Jan. 28 notice warning traders of scam calls and messages pretending to be from the agency. The agency said it does not request payments through texts or calls. It urged industry to “verify the authenticity of any correspondence” from Singapore Customs by reaching out to the agency directly.

Li Chen, formerly of Dublin, Ohio, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for conspiring to steal medical-related trade secrets and sell them to China, the Justice Department said Feb. 1. Chen worked with her husband to try to steal scientific trade secrets related to “exosomes and exosome isolation” from Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute, the agency said. Both Chen and her husband, Yu Zhou, worked in medical research labs at the institute but received “benefits” from the Chinese government and applied to several Chinese-run talent plans, which are used to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government. She also is accused of setting up a company in China to sell exosome “isolation kits,” based on the trade secrets.Chen will forfeit about $1.25 million, 500,000 shares of common stock of Avalon GloboCare Corp. and 400 shares of common stock of GenExosome Technologies Inc., the Justice Department said. She was also ordered to pay $2.6 million restitution. Her husband pleaded guilty to similar charges and is awaiting sentencing.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't know when Katherine Tai, the U.S. trade representative nominee, might get a hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee. He told reporters on a press call Feb. 2 that it's likely that Finance will question the Health and Human Services secretary nominee ahead of Tai. He also said he doesn't know how the impeachment trial for Donald Trump could affect the timing. Grassley said he supports President Joe Biden's approach of trying to get Europe, other countries in North America, South Korea and Japan “on the same wavelength with regard to China,” and when he has the opportunity to talk to Tai, he'll be asking about “how long they're going to wait to follow up on phase two” of trade talks with China. He said he doesn't expect the issue of Section 301 exclusions to be on his list of topics to bring up. “I just haven’t had a lot of contact in the last six months with these business interests [with expired exclusions], maybe my staff has,” he said.