The House of Representatives passed three Senate resolutions that would block the export of Raytheon laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These munitions are used in those countries' interventions in the Yemen civil war, which many members of Congress disapprove of. All Democrats, four Republicans and former Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan supported the resolutions, and a handful of members from both parties didn't vote the evening of July 17. The 238 or 237 votes in favor of the resolutions are not enough to override an expected veto; the resolutions passed the Senate 53-45, also not strongly enough to override a veto. There are 19 other resolutions the Senate passed on arms sales to these countries that have not yet been voted on in the House.

The State Department sanctioned four Burmese officials and their immediate family members for “gross human rights violations” related to Burma’s ethnic cleansing of Rohingya, the State Department said in a July 16 press release. The department sanctioned Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo and Brigadier General Aung Aung. The State Department said these sanctions make the U.S. “the first government to publicly take action with respect to the most senior leadership of the Burmese military.”

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Iraqi nationals for human rights violations, Treasury said in a July 17 press release. Two are “militia figures” and two are former Iraqi governors, Treasury said. Rayan al-Kildani and Waad Qado, leaders of Iraqi militias, were designated for human rights abuses that include “intimidation, extortion, robbery, kidnapping” and other violent acts. Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and Ahmed al-Jubouri, two former government officials, were designated for corruption, smuggling, misusing funds and other charges. All four were designated under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a “network of front companies and agents involved” in procuring enriched uranium for Iran’s nuclear program, Treasury said in a July 18 press release. The entities and people are based in Iran, China and Belgium and worked as a “procurement network” for Iran’s Centrifuge Technology Company, which produces centrifuges in facilities belonging to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Treasury said.

American farmers are losing market share in Japan as Canada and Australia get the benefit of lower tariffs through the Trans-Pacific Partnership and European producers also get benefits through their region's free trade agreement with Japan.

Commerce plans to eliminate license exceptions for civil end-users from the Export Administration Regulations, according to an alert from Akin Gump. Commerce did not say when the changes would take effect, the alert said, but U.S. companies should “prepare for the possibility that currently exempted activities may soon require specific licenses” from the Bureau of Industry and Security. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently completed a review of the changes, according to a notice on the OIRA website.

Three trade experts discussing the role of technology in the U.S.-China trade war were split over how and when the two nations will reach a trade deal, with two saying they expect a deal soon and one saying China is willing to wait until a potentially new administration in 2020. But the experts, speaking July 18 during a panel at the Brookings Institution, agreed on one point: If there is a deal, the ban on Huawei Technologies will be lifted.

The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

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

Costa Rica issued a three-month moratorium on paying penalties related to value-added taxes, KPMG said in a July 11 post and report. The moratorium, issued in the country’s Official Gazette on July 10, applies to “penalties, interest, fines” and other “sanctions” in the country’s Code of Norms and Tax Procedures, KPMG said, but excludes “large taxpayers.” The moratorium does not exempt taxpayers from “submitting the tax returns, the tax payment, or the payment of the principal amount adjusted by the Tax Administration,” KPMG said.