A new World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel report said that the U.S. improperly applied Section 301 tariffs on goods from China. “It remains to be seen whether the US decides to appeal the ruling,” former WTO official Peter Ungphakorn said in a tweet. “Since the Appellate Body cannot function, this would be an 'appeal into the void.'” The WTO appeals court is mostly inoperable due to a U.S. hold on adding new members.

Indonesia recently announced stricter import controls on a range of consumer products, including sports footwear, bicycles and air-conditioning equipment, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said Sept. 10. The change requires importers of those goods to first obtain a permit from Indonesia, and bicycles may be imported only by companies with an “official business registration number,” HKTDC said. In addition, the goods can be imported through only certain sea and air entry ports. The increased restrictions were in response to a 70% rise in those imports during May and June.

India recently announced export restrictions on certain onion products, the country’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a Sept. 14 notice. The change restricts exports of all onion varieties, including “Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram onions,” but excludes onions “cut, sliced or broken in powder form.”

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released on Sept. 15 its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The 19 notifications, ranging from January through May, feature arms sales to numerous countries including the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Canada and Italy.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to the Defense Production Act, BIS said in a notice released Sept. 15. The collection is related to the DPA's authority with regard to performance of contracts and orders “supporting national defense and emergency preparedness program requirements.” Comments are due Nov. 16.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended 69 entries under its Ukraine-related sanctions, a Sept. 14 notice said. It revised identifying information for the entries, which are still subject to an asset freeze.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 15 sanctioned a Chinese state-owned entity, the former first lady of Gambia and a United Kingdom-based company for corruption and human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Sept. 8-11 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The 10% tariffs on Canadian non-alloyed unwrought aluminum will be refunded back to Sept. 1, and the tariffs won't return unless Canadian exporters exceed either 70,000 tons or 83,000 tons in that category (see 2009150040), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said on Sept. 15. The office said the limits start at 83,000 for the current month, then go to 70,000, then back to 83,000, then back to 70,000 for December. USTR did not say the tariffs would definitely return if Canadian exporters exceed these numbers by at least 5%, and suggested that if Canadian exporters reduced the next month's shipments by the same amount of the overage, that would satisfy USTR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau recently completed rules related to export controls and Electronic Export Information filing requirements, but they have not yet been published due to delays at the Federal Register office, officials said. A final rule from BIS will implement export control decisions stemming from the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary, including new restrictions on emerging technologies (see 2008100013). An advance notice of proposed rulemaking from Census will seek comments on removing certain EEI filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2008110017 and 2006030043).