A top U.S. intelligence official urged companies to avoid supply chains involving Huawei, and said there is a strong push within the administration to bolster domestic production of 5G technologies. Constance Taube, National Counterintelligence and Security Center deputy director, said U.S. companies should approach Huawei and other Chinese state-controlled companies with a high degree of skepticism, saying their supply chains will ultimately benefit from more trusted actors.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Aug. 19 (some may also be given separate headlines):
South Korea and Iran held the first meeting of a working group to expand humanitarian trade, South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, according to an unofficial translation. The meeting, scheduled for Aug. 18, aimed to establish humanitarian “trade procedures” and a “consultation on export items with priority to Iran,” the notice said. South Korea said it hopes to export more medicine and medical devices to Iran.
South Korea eliminated antidumping duties on imports of Japanese pneumatic transmission valves, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Aug. 19. Japan had raised a dispute with the World Trade Organization, arguing that South Korea imposed the duties past their scheduled five-year expiration date. “It was unfortunate that [South Korea] continued imposing the duties beyond May 30, 2020, the original deadline,” Japan said. “[South Korea] cannot be recognized as having performed its duties sincerely.” Japan said the duties were eliminated Aug. 19 and it will “refrain from taking further legal procedures … such as retaliatory measures.” The WTO Appellate Body had ruled on Sept. 10, 2019, that South Korea was not adhering to WTO tariff implementation agreements and recommended it bring its measures into conformity, which South Korea agreed to do by May 30.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a notice Aug. 19 to industry on payment methods in the Defense Export Control and Compliance System. New or renewal registrants must include the DDTC Account Number 1900000128 with their registration fee payment information when using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) debit payment method, DDTC said. The registrant “will experience a payment failure if the DDTC Account Number is not used,” the notice said.
Idaho's two senators and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., have asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Agriculture Department to consider initiating a dispute with Mexico over the restriction on fresh potatoes from the U.S. The letter, sent Aug. 18, notes that Mexico had agreed to allow fresh potatoes to be sold beyond a 16-mile U.S.-Mexico border zone (see 14052305), but that Mexican potato interests sued to stop the liberalization. That case is still pending. A House Republican from Colorado asked the administration last year to push Mexico on this issue (see 1909270061).
A bipartisan group of senators urged the Trump administration to expand sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying current restrictions have not done enough to curb corruption and human rights abuses there. The sanctions should include additional designations of DRC government officials and increased restrictions on officials who are creating “new companies” to avoid U.S. sanctions, nine senators said in an Aug. 17 letter to Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two United Arab Emirates-based companies and a business owner for supporting sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air, an Aug. 19 news release said. The designations target Parthia Cargo, Delta Parts Supply FZC and Iranian national Amin Mahdavi, who owns Parthia Cargo. OFAC said the companies provided “key parts and logistics services” that help Mahan Air sustain its fleet of “western manufactured aircraft.” The parts and services also help the airline transport terrorists, “lethal cargo” and technical equipment to Syria and Venezuela.
The United Nations Security Council Committee granted a sanctions exemption to allow a nongovernmental organization in South Korea to deliver humanitarian goods to North Korea, an Aug. 13 letter said. Medical Aid for Children is authorized to ship certain medical items, including dental equipment, for the next six months. The UNSC added that South Korea may conduct “necessary business and financial transactions only for the purchase of goods and services exempted” by the committee.