The Australian Sanctions Office recently published a risk assessment tool to help companies evaluate the “sanctions risks” of a transaction or other activity, including whether the company should investigate further, obtain legal advice, apply for a license or abandon the deal. The tool covers activities with sanctioned parties, deals involving export- or import-controlled goods, the provision of sanctioned services and more.
The new Trump administration announced plans to redesignate the Yemen-based Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, subjecting the group to additional sanctions, financial reporting requirements and other restrictions.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security's new artificial intelligence export control framework published earlier this month is “promising,” it also lacks flexibility and omits some key U.S. allies, the Rand think tank said in a new report.
The Trump administration should look to negotiate new types of economic and trade deals that are centered on economic security issues, such as export controls and investment screening measures, the Center for a New American Security said in a new report this week. The think tank also called on President Donald Trump to create an economic security strategy, which should outline avenues to strengthen export control enforcement.
Ivan Kanapathy, former senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies, has been named the senior director for Asia at the National Security Council, the firm announced Jan. 21. Kanapathy, who served on the NSC under the first Trump administration, has voiced support for U.S. unilateral and extraterritorial trade controls against China (see 2306160043) and has criticized the Treasury Department for being slow to update its Non-Specially Designated Nationals Chinese Military Industrial Complex List (see 2402130050).
Ocean carrier China United Lines alleges it is owed $96.4 million in reparations from Amazon because the Seattle-based shipper failed to honor a transportation service contract the parties agreed to in 2022, according to a complaint filed this month with the Federal Maritime Commission.
The heads of the World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization penned a Memorandum of Understanding on Jan. 21 to boost cooperation on "customs-related matters," the WTO announced. The organizations agreed to identify opportunities to collaborate in "external fora" and on the "delivery of technical assistance and capacity building in areas of common interest, including the implementation of grants provided through the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility." The two organizations also agreed to share information in "areas of common interests," including on the development of the Harmonized System tracker and tariff classification. The groups pledged to harmonize work on the transposition of the HS, including through sharing information on projects and activities to combat illegal trade.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America, a think tank aligned with Trump's trade policy, issued a new report on agricultural trade, arguing that policies that aimed to lower U.S. tariffs in exchange for better market access for U.S. agricultural exports almost exclusively benefited soybeans, corn and wheat, while hurting fruit and vegetable farmers and livestock operations.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is forming a task force to improve how the government handles foreign military sales and export controls, committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., announced Jan. 22 during a committee organizational meeting.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls reminded exporters and other companies this week that its increased registration fees took effect Jan. 9 (see 2412060068). Current registrations expiring on or after March 31 will be sent reminder notifications about the new fee structure, DDTC said, which includes higher baseline fees for Tier 1, 2 and 3 registrants. The agency also linked to guidance on how to create a new registration and how registrants can calculate their new registration payment.