Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is evading U.S.-imposed sanctions by funneling cash from Venezuelan oil sales through a Russian state energy company, according to an April 18 report from Reuters. The cash flowing through Rosneft is the most recent sign of “the growing dependence of Venezuela’s cash-strapped government on Russia” as a result of U.S. sanctions, according to the report.

Even with an already high volume of U.S.-imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and economic sectors within the first few months of 2019, the sanctions are only likely to increase, said Johann Strauss, an international trade lawyer at Akin Gump.

Officials from the State and Commerce departments underscored the importance of open communication and urged industry leaders to submit public comments as the two begin a review of space-related export controls under a Trump administration directive. At the April 17 public meeting at the Department of Commerce, several officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, said they were seeking public comments on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for both State and Commerce, specifically surrounding items listed on the U.S. Munitions List regarding categories IV and XV: launch vehicles and spacecraft, respectively. The notices were issued March 8; comments are due April 22.

The World Trade Organization said China is not living up to its promises in how it uses tariff rate quotas for wheat, corn and rice, giving the U.S. a second victory in agriculture disputes with China. China may appeal the panel finding. The WTO said that the fact that state-trading enterprises are given specific shares of the lower-duty import quotas, but that those enterprises don't always use all of the quota, and it is not reallocated to other buyers, means that China restrains the filling of its tariff rate quotas.

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The International Trade Commission estimated that by the sixth year after the new NAFTA's ratification, the U.S. economy would have 176,000 more jobs than it would have without the new revised trade deal. That's a 0.12 percent increase compared to the status quo.

Vietnam customs is considering an overhaul of its regulations on valuation, according to a report from the agency’s website CustomsNews. The current 2015 regulation brought Vietnam in line with the World Trade Organization agreement on valuation of goods, but it also did not define some concepts, making it difficult to implement for traders, the report said. Upcoming changes include the order and conditions under which valuation methods should be apply, as well a rewrite of regulations governing those methods, including transaction value, transaction value of similar goods and deductive value.

New Zealand implemented a range of gun control regulations on April 12, banning most semi-automatic firearms and introducing penalties for importing guns without a permit, according to an April 17 notice from Baker McKenzie and the New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office. The regulations also contain provisions that can penalize exporters or importers who “knowingly [supply] or [sell] a prohibited firearm or prohibited magazine to a person who does not hold a permit to import or possess one,” according to Baker McKenzie.

Companies and individuals who violate New Zealand customs requirements can now be issued a range of instant fines, according to a list of infringement offenses from New Zealand Customs. The list was mentioned in an April 17 notice from Baker McKenzie. The changes were introduced in October as part of the country’s Customs and Excise Act of 2018 but were not implemented until after a six-month “education phase,” according to the notice. They became effective April 1, 2019.

Leaders from Japan and China said during a meeting in Beijing on April 15 that they want to finish negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2019, according to a press release from China’s Ministry of Commerce. China said it wants to ratify RCEP, a free trade agreement proposed in 2012 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, “within the year as early as possible.” The trade agreement is poised to be the “most ambitious ever negotiated by developing countries,” according to a report from The Brookings Institution, and is expected to increase global trade by 1.9 percent and reduce certain tariff lines.