The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 28 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson suggested that the U.S. and the United Nations should remove sanctions from North Korea because they are not solving the problem.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is leading a trade mission to West Africa to try to expand markets for U.S. exporters, the USDA said in an Oct. 25 press release. The trade mission includes Stephen Censky, deputy secretary of agriculture, and officials from more than 40 U.S. companies and trade groups. USDA will travel to Ghana and will hear from buyer groups based in Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Senegal. The USDA released a report on the opportunities for U.S. exporters in West Africa (see 1910250023) and recently returned from a trade mission to Vietnam (see 1910180052).

The State Department is seeking comments on an information collection related to disclosures of the Arms Export Control Act, according to an Oct. 28 notice. In a summary of the information collection, the State Department said it has developed a “discrete form” for submitting voluntary disclosures “as part of an IT modernization project designed to streamline the collection and use of information by” the Directorate of Defense Trade controls. The form will allow DDTC and submitters “to more easily track submissions,” the notice said. Comments are due Nov. 27.

An owner of a large freight forwarding company pleaded guilty to an antitrust charge after she fixed prices for international freight forwarding services, the Justice Department said Oct. 24. Francis Alvarez and others fixed prices from 2010 until 2014 for her Houston-based company, which shipped to Honduras, the Justice Department said. The charges constitute a violation of the Sherman Act and Alvarez faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine. She has agreed to cooperate with an ongoing investigation of the nationwide price-fixing conspiracy.

The House is scheduled to mark up a bill on Oct. 29 that would reauthorize the Export-Import Bank until 2029, increase the bank’s lending authority and introduces a “temporary board” in a situation where the bank lacks a quorum in the future. The bill, introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., would also rename the bank the Export Finance Agency. Among the most notable portions of the bill is a provision that would increase the bank’s lending power gradually over several years, from $145 billion in 2020 to $175 billion in 2026.

China’s free trade agreement with Mauritius will give Mauritius duty-free access to 96 percent of Chinese tariff lines as the two sides pledged to continue reducing tariffs on other items, according to an Oct. 28 post from Dezan Shira & Associates. The agreement, announced Oct. 17 (see 1910170027), gives Mauritius duty-free access to about 8,000 Chinese products and covers more than 40 service sectors, the post said. The two countries plan to eliminate tariffs both ways on more than 90 percent of traded goods, the post said.

The State Department designated Zimbabwe’s minister of state for national security, Owen Ncube, for human rights violations, the State Department said Oct. 25. The State Department said it is “deeply troubled” by the Zimbabwean government’s use of violence against peaceful protestors and the opposition party. The designation means Ncube may not enter the U.S.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is “ahead of schedule” in signing the first phase of a U.S.-China trade deal.

The United Kingdom will not leave the European Union on Oct. 31, after the EU and the U.K. agreed to postpone Brexit day to Jan. 31, 2020. European Council President Donald Tusk on Oct. 28 announced the Brexit “flextension,” which allows the U.K. to leave earlier if its Parliament approves a recently renegotiated transition deal. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson accepted the extension later that same day, as required by a law passed by Parliament in September (see 1909090056), a BBC report said.