Congress should approve tougher sanctions and import restrictions to stem the deadly and illegal flow of fentanyl into the U.S., the House Select Committee on China said in a new report April 16.
World Trade Organization members, during an April 11 Committee on Trade and Development meeting, reviewed developments in regional trade agreements and ways to increase developing nations' role in the global trading system, the WTO announced. The committee noted that developing nations face challenges to participating in international trade, including "dependence on commodity exports and higher trade costs." The members addressed policy spaces for developing nations to boost industrial development, including under the WTO's framework of the Agreements on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Trade-Related Investment Measures and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, introduced a bill last week that would require the Treasury Department to submit quarterly reports to Congress on the number of businesses that have met FinCEN’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations have discussed the possibility of imposing additional sanctions on Iran in response to that country’s drone and missile attack on Israel last week, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said April 15.
The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee said April 12 that he has asked the Treasury Department to provide “an accounting of all international high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions.”
U.S. Steel Corp. stockholders April 12 approved the proposed acquisition of the company by Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp., brushing aside White House and congressional opposition to the $14.9 billion deal.
The Treasury Department is accepting public comments until May 15 on a proposed rule that could allow the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to impose higher max penalties for certain violations, collect a broader range of information from parties involved in non-notified transactions, give the committee broader subpoena abilities, expand the circumstances in which it may fine a company, and more.
The World Trade Organization's Committee on Regional Trade Agreements met April 8 to consider six regional trade agreements and discuss how to enhance the committee's functionality, the WTO announced. The committee chair, New Zealand's Clare Kelly, said that members agreed to include an "executive summary in the factual presentations, to be drafted and circulated under the responsibility of the Secretariat."
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking for new candidates to serve on each of its six technical advisory committees, the agency said this week. The TAC members -- selected from industry, academia and government -- will help advise the Commerce Department on export controls and may serve terms of not more than four consecutive years. Applicants should send a resume and other required information to Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov by June 11.
The Biden administration isn't ready to say whether it plans to formally designate Venezuela’s largest criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization, a State Department official said at an April 11 congressional hearing.