The European Union and the United Kingdom plan to sanction Belarusian authorities for their violence against peaceful protesters after the country’s presidential elections earlier this month. The EU is working on “new listings for sanctions against those responsible for violence,” Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign policy chief, said Aug. 18. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the EU needs to conduct an “independent investigation” into Belarus’ elections. “The UK will work with our international partners to sanction those responsible, and hold the Belarusian authorities to account,” Raab said. Borrell said EU heads of state will discuss sanctions actions during an Aug. 19 meeting.

The Commerce Department’s increased restrictions on exports to Huawei (see 2008170029) will cause “significant disruption” to the U.S. semiconductor industry, the Semiconductor Industry association said Aug. 17. Although SIA is “still reviewing the rule,” CEO John Neuffer called the restrictions “broad” and said they significantly expanded on changes made to the foreign direct product rule in May (see 2005150058). “We are surprised and concerned by the administration’s sudden shift from its prior support of a more narrow approach intended to achieve stated national security goals while limiting harm to U.S. companies,” Neuffer said. “We reiterate our view that sales of non-sensitive, commercial products to China drive semiconductor research and innovation here in the U.S., which is critical to America’s economic strength and national security.” Commerce did not comment.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 10-14 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Department of Justice’s recent changes to its voluntary disclosure policies (see 1912130047) could lead to complications for companies and were met with backlash from other enforcement agencies, said Robert Clifton Burns, an export control lawyer with Crowell & Moring. The guidance, which outlined benefits for companies that disclose export control and sanctions penalties, can be interpreted as saying industry should first submit their voluntary disclosures to the Justice Department instead of to other agencies, Burns said.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is soliciting comments on China's compliance with its World Trade Organization commitments, the agency said in a notice. Comments are due by Sept. 16. There will be no hearing this year, instead the Trade Policy Staff Committee will send written questions to commenters.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service issued a report on Aug. 14 about the European Union’s import controls for certain agricultural goods. It details the EU’s “extensive” control regimes for food items, including pre-export check requirements and special conditions for entry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service issued a report on Aug. 14 about upcoming changes to technical requirements for alcoholic products in the Eurasian Economic Union. The changes, which mostly take effect Jan. 9, 2021, detail safety standards and establish requirements for distribution, packaging, labeling, storage, transportation and disposal.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Aug. 17 (some may also be given separate headlines):

China’s Guangdong region recently announced measures to speed up export tax rebate processing and to help divert goods intended for export to instead be sold domestically, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 17. All Guangdong tax authorities were ordered to “increase their assessment efficiency and expedite the processing” for export tax rebates to reduce the handling time from eight to five working days, the report said. The province is also collecting data on taxes and fees to create “business matching platforms” that will drive “products originally destined for export” to be sold domestically.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Taiwan's an attractive free trading partner but not as important to exporters as China is. “I'm for a free trade agreement with Taiwan, but I wouldn't want that to stand in the way of a phase two deal with China,” he told reporters on a conference call Aug. 17. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, and considers it part of China, not an independent country. Taiwan's president recently said he'd like negotiations to begin on an FTA (see 2008130010), and 161 House members have argued for opening negotiations with Taiwan (see 1912200014).