The State Department released its annual report on U.S. actions taken under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act during 2020. The agency said the U.S. took “significant action” under its human rights sanctions program, which included actions against Chinese officials for human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region (see 2007310028), “corrupt actors” in South Sudan (see 2001080023), and Ugandan officials complicit in an adoption scam victimizing children born in that country (see 2008170018). The report contains a list of all the sanctions targets under the human rights regime in 2020.
The additional Section 301 tariffs on goods from the European Union announced late Dec. 30 (see 2012300062) will take effect “with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 12, 2021,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a notice. USTR said in a Dec. 30 news release that it would increase the tariffs as part of the ongoing World Trade Organization dispute over Airbus subsidies. The announcement disrupts settlement talks and “exceeds the amount of retaliation authorised by the WTO,” a European Commission spokesperson emailed. “The Commission is analysing the data in detail and will look at all options available on how to respond.”
Four companies said they may have violated U.S. sanctions and export controls after providing products to blocked parties or not complying with licensing requirements, according to their Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The potential violations involve illegal exports of software, providing services to people in embargoed countries, and sanctioned airline activities.
Nigeria recently launched a “port operations process manual” to boost port efficiency and tackle corruption, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 28. The manual is aimed at addressing “corruption risk assessment” at Nigerian ports and to increase “accountability.” Success will depend on whether industry stakeholders “take the new manual on board and assess its efficiency, so that the document can subsequently be revised when issues and developments arise,” HKTDC said.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 30 (some may also be given separate headlines):
India recently issued new regulations and standards for alcoholic drinks, including updated requirements for “low alcoholic beverages,” such as craft beers and alcohol-free beer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said Dec. 23. The regulations also include new labeling requirements for wine. Industry will have until July 1, 2021, to comply with the new standards and rules.
China announced revised standards of origin for some commodities for trade with Macau, it said Dec. 24, according to an unofficial translation. The changes take effect Jan. 1.
China's implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement likely will have a “minor impact” on U.S. agricultural exports to China in the “near future,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported Dec. 23. For goods that receive preferential treatment under RCEP, such as soybeans, “no Asia-Pacific economies compete with the” U.S. exports to China, FAS said. In addition, FAS said other products such as corn, wheat, rice and cotton fall under China’s tariff-rate quota regime, which “supersedes any RCEP tariff reductions.” FAS said RCEP is also “unlikely to change” China’s agricultural trade in the Asia-Pacific region, mostly because China has already secured bilateral trade deals with major trading partners such as New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and the members states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Also, the USDA earlier this month said it doesn't expect RCEP to heavily impact U.S. agricultural exports to Thailand (see 2012040022).
The United Kingdom and Turkey signed a free trade agreement that will maintain existing preferential tariff levels and ensure trade continues as usual after the Brexit transition period ends, the U.K. said Dec. 29. The U.K. also said the accord lays the “groundwork for a more ambitious trade relationship” with both sides committed to working on a more comprehensive free trade agreement.
Wendy Cutler, the lead negotiator for the Trans Pacific Partnership, and James Green, who was the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's senior official in China, are questioning whether a new European Union-China investment agreement will undercut the united front President-elect Joe Biden wants on Chinese economic abuses.