The Trump administration is considering placing export controls on China’s top chipmaker, the latest move in a campaign of restrictions aimed at Chinese technology companies. The controls would target the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation by placing it on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, Reuters said in a Sept. 4 report. The effort is being spearheaded by the Defense Department, the report said, which petitioned Commerce’s End User Committee last week to add SMIC to the Entity List.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The European Commission decided to end European Union import duties on imports of corn, sorghum and rye from the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service said in a Sept. 3 report. The change occurred “only four months after re-introducing duties for the first time since March 2018,” the report said. “The re-introduction of duties in April 2020 were allegedly triggered by the decline in U.S. corn prices after the COVID-19 crisis significantly reduced the demand for U.S. bio-ethanol production.”
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 4 (some may also be given separate headlines):
China will impose countervailing measures on imports of n-propanol from the United States, a Sept. 4 Ministry of Commerce notice said, according to an unofficial translation. China said its n-propanol industry has suffered “substantial damage” due to the U.S. imports. Beginning Sept. 9, Chinese “import operators” must pay Chinese customs authorities at rates between 34.2% and 37.7%, the notice said.
Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin should sanction Russians involved in ongoing interference in the 2020 U.S. elections, a group of Democratic senators said in a Sept. 3 letter. They pointed to the public release of information by the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center that describes activities of “Kremlin-linked actors” attempting to sway opinion about President Donald Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race, Joe Biden. “We thus urge you to draw upon the conclusions of the Intelligence Community to identify and target for sanctions all those determined to be responsible for ongoing election interference, including any actors within the government of the Russian Federation, any Russian actors determined to be directly responsible, and those acting on their behalf or providing material or financial support for their efforts,” they said. The group, led by Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, also provided Mnuchin “additional classified information through separate channels,” according to a news release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control identified and sanctioned four people who “have facilitated the illegitimate Maduro regime’s efforts to undermine the independence and democratic order of Venezuela,” the Department of the Treasury said in a Sept. 4 news release. “These individuals include David Eugenio De Lima Salas, Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, Indira Maira Alfonzo Izaguirre, and Jose Luis Gutierrez Parra,” OFAC said. “Their actions are part of a broader election interference scheme to prevent free and fair parliamentary elections from taking place in December 2020 by restructuring the National Electoral Council and controlling the state’s wealth and assets for regime purposes through the Solicitor General,” OFAC said in the release.
The Bureau of Industry and Security ought to make available information that is more specific to university export compliance, the Association of University Export Control Officers said in a recent letter to BIS. The letter was prompted by a May Government Accountability Office report that similarly said more guidance for universities would be helpful (see 2005120053). “While it is possible for universities to glean some needed information from outreach materials and training geared toward industry, it can be difficult at times to interpret industry-focused guidance to the university environment,” the association said.
Seventy-five years ago this week, the inaugural issue of Warren Communications News’ founding publication, Television Digest, was published. Thus began the remarkable journey that led to the establishment of Warren as the premier source of hard news and journalistic insight for the entire communications industry.
CT Strategies hired Shawn Beddows as vice president of global services, the consulting group said in a news release. Beddows previously worked at the International Air Transport Association on cargo security matters in the Cargo Border Management Office. He was also the acting director of the CBP Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Program and is an “Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Technical and Operational Adviser recognized by the World Customs Organization,” CT Strategies said.