The Border Trade Alliance is asking House and Senate appropriators to dedicate enough funding to hire an additional 1,200 CBP officers. "Current staffing levels fail to address the growing demands of travel and trade at our ports-of-entry," the Oct. 28 BTA letter said. Long waits increase supply chain costs, they said. Providing additional CBP officers at this time of growing volumes of international passengers and cargo would both reduce lengthy wait times and facilitate new economic opportunities in communities throughout the United States.

A Turkey sanctions bill passed 403-16 on Oct. 29 in the House of Representatives, despite Turkey's decision to stop shelling a part of Syria near its border. The bill requires the government to impose financial sanctions on Halkbank, a Turkish-owned bank involved in Iranian sanctions evasions, which also employed a client of the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced a penalty of about $180,000 on a telecommunication service provider for violations of European Union sanctions on Syria, according to an Oct. 28 notice. The company, Telia Carrier UK, “indirectly facilitated” phone calls to SyriaTel, an EU-sanctioned entity, OFSI said. The calls led to the “company repeatedly making funds and economic resources indirectly available to the designated entity over an extended period of time,” the notice said.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 21-25 in case they were missed.

The Commerce Department plans to release proposed export controls on emerging technologies within the “next few weeks” and an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on foundational technologies before the end of the year, a top Commerce official said. Matt Borman, the Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration, suggested Commerce has been eager to release both controls to ease concerns from U.S. trade groups and companies, which have warned the agency against overly broad, unilateral controls.

The World Trade Organization will convene a dispute settlement panel to judge whether India had the right to impose tariffs on apples, almonds, motorcycles and other products (see 1906170053). The panel was approved for formation in Geneva Oct. 29. Under the additional tariffs, American apples are taxed at 70 percent, compared with 50 percent for other countries' apple exports; the tariff on almonds and walnuts increased by 20 percentage points; and chickpeas and lentils have an additional 10 percentage points of duties. Most of these products are imported at low volumes, but India projected that it would collect more than $100 million in tariffs on almonds in the shell, and more than $20 million on apples. India says it is justified because the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum are really safeguards to protect American mills and foundries, not national security measures. India is one of many countries involved in litigation at the WTO over the steel and aluminum tariffs -- others include Norway, Russia, the 28 countries of the European Union and China.

South Korea will continue to be classified as a developing country at the World Trade Organization in some respects, but not in negotiations, Reuters reported. "The government decided not to seek special treatment as a developing country from future negotiations at WTO,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Oct. 25. Developing countries are allowed looser standards on agriculture subsidies in the WTO, and the finance minister emphasized that Korea will continue to protect its agriculture.

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its collection of overseas business guides for British exporters by adding links to new market guides, according to an Oct. 28 notice. The new links include market guides to Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, the Ivory Coast, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Slovenia and Vietnam.

The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade updated its guidance on trade sanctions, arms embargoes and other restrictions, the DIT said in an Oct. 28 notice. The guidance includes a list of countries with current sanctions, a summary of the U.K.’s key sanctions measures and what the sanctions prohibit.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a guidance on Russian sanctions after the U.K. leaves the European Union, expanding on details of the U.K.’s financial and investment sanctions. The guidance provides information on where trade and financial sanctions may overlap, as well as information on Russian asset freezes, blocked payments, loan and credit arrangements and sanctions exceptions. The guidance also provides a set of frequently asked questions.