House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., urged Congress Sept. 15 to pass two pending Russia sanctions bills to pressure Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.
When asked whether a broader trade agreement might be reached with China, beyond the current tariff truce, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said each of the four meetings has become more productive. There will need to be a fifth meeting before the truce expires Nov. 10, he told CNBC from London on Sept. 16. "I think the Chinese now sense a trade deal is more possible," he said.
CBP has developed a “trade facing” truck export manifest and is ready to deploy it “pending publication” of an interim final rule in the Federal Register, the agency said ahead of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s September meeting. CBP also is hoping to soon publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to put in place an electronic export manifest for shipments traveling by vessel and is awaiting a final rule for its rail EEM proposal issued in January (see 2501080013).
The Commerce Department’s spring 2025 regulatory agenda for the Census Bureau includes a new mention of a proposed rule that could require exporters to report the country of origin for certain foreign-produced goods. Census said it will propose a new conditional data element for “country of origin” when the foreign indicator is selected in the Electronic Export Information filed in the Automated Export System. The rule also will propose “remedial changes” to the Foreign Trade Regulations to “improve clarity and to correct errors.” Census had hoped to issue the rule in July. The agency has been studying alternative ways to collect the country of origin information after receiving significant pushback from companies and trade groups that said a new reporting requirement would lead to costly compliance challenges (see 2203160026, 2301230008, 2309130002 and 2403270056).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of people and companies that it said are helping Iran move money, sell oil and evade international sanctions. The designations target financial facilitators in Iran, as well as more than a dozen people and companies based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
A new State Department export license exemption for underwater drones provides “new flexibility” for companies using those drones for certain commercial and scientific operations, but companies still need to set “careful compliance guardrails” to make sure they’re using the exemption correctly, K&L Gates said in a client alert.
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The State Department is changing the way it treats exports of unmanned drones, a shift that's expected to allow firms to more easily obtain export approvals.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has removed certain export restrictions from aircraft belonging to Belavia, the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, as part of sanctions relief that the Trump administration has offered to the country in recent days.
The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies took effect Sept. 15 during a special General Council meeting after instruments of acceptance were received from Brazil, Kenya, Vietnam and Tonga, the WTO announced. Those acceptances brought the total number over the two-thirds threshold needed for the deal to enter into force (see 2508250013).