China and Cambodia concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement, China said in a July 20 notice, according to an unofficial translation. The two countries intend to sign and ratify the deal this year (see 2006190009), which would increase market access for a range of goods and services and improve regulatory alignment between the two governments. China also said the deal would improve rules of origin procedures and customs processes and remove a range of technical trade barriers.

The State Department sanctioned Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechen Republic, for human rights violations, a July 20 notice said. The designation also targets Kadyrov’s spouse, Medni Kadyrova, and daughters Aishat Kadyrova and Karina Kadyrova.

Germany, France and Italy said they will pursue sanctions against countries that continue to violate the United Nations arms embargo against Libya, a July 18 joint statement said. The countries urged “foreign actors to end their increasing interference” and said they are “ready to consider the possible use of sanctions should breaches to the embargo at sea, on land or in the air continue.” The statement came about a week after the U.S. threatened sanctions against foreign militaries interfering in Libya (see 2007150020).

A top Pentagon official said the U.S. needs to loosen export controls on certain defense items, adding that U.S. companies are losing customers to countries with less-strict export regulations. Ellen Lord, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said she hopes to work with the Commerce, Treasury and State departments to rethink the administration’s export control strategy by year-end.

The Commerce Department will add 11 China-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, a notice released July 20 said. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.

The State Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda. The agenda includes a new mention of a final rule to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations due to changes made by multilateral export regimes. The rule would update the U.S. Munitions List and “corresponding parts of the ITAR” based on “related treaties” and export regimes, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, that have updated their export controls. The agency is aiming to issue the rule this month.

New appointees were named to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees by the secretary of agriculture and the U.S. trade representative. The 25 appointees will serve until 2024.

Jon Perdue is the new executive director of CBP’s Office of Trade Relations, Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said during the June 15 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Perdue was previously with the Caribbean and Latin America desk of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Valarie Neuhart, previously acting executive director, will continue to be deputy executive director at the Office of Trade Relations, a CBP spokesperson said.

Former U.S. trade representatives Carla Hills, Susan Schwab and Michael Froman said the next director-general of the World Trade Organization will have an uphill climb to achieve changes they all believe are needed at the institution. The three spoke during a Washington International Trade Association webinar July 16. Froman said the fundamental problem is “a lack of global consensus around trade. And there’s a lack of political will to get things done.”

Egypt’s trade ministry recently suspended imports of refined and raw sugar for three months, a July 15 U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report said. The measure, which took effect in early June, may be renewed and includes an exemption for imports of white sugar for the pharmaceutical industry. USDA said Egypt's sugar imports come primarily from Brazil and the European Union, with small quantities from China. It produces 80% of its domestic sugar demand.