Plans to finalize a reorganization of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Mike Miller, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for defense trade. The reorganization -- which involves moving definitions and consolidating exemptions within the ITAR (see 1907120011) -- has been “de-emphasized as a priority,” Miller said during a May 8 conference call hosted by the Society for International Affairs. “In the current environment, with all the disruption and the difficulties everyone is facing, a rollout of that at this time would not be timely.”
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued several “administrative updates” to certain Specially Designated Nationals List records, according to a May 7 notice. The updates “reclassified certain aliases as weak.” The notice contains the unique identification numbers (UIDs) for each of the affected SDN entries.
Republican lawmakers urged the Commerce Department to be more transparent when imposing export restrictions on critical U.S. industries, saying they are concerned that Commerce did not consult with industry before imposing significant export regulations last week. In a May 6 letter, six senators asked President Donald Trump to more closely follow congressional intent as described in the 2018 Export Control Reform Act, which lists a preference for a public comment period and multilateral export controls over unilateral decisions.
If countries place trade restrictions on food supplies similar to those on medical goods, the global supply chain could see significant agricultural shortages within months, trade experts said during a Washington International Trade Association webinar. But even without export controls on food, restrictions on movement and other COVID-19-related controls are already beginning to impact the flow of food goods, the experts said.
The U.S. government appealed a March court decision that blocked the Trump administration from transferring oversight of 3D printing of firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department (see 2003090029). The appeal, filed May 5, aims to lift the temporary injunction, which the administration has said is based on a misunderstanding of export regulations (see 2002270014).
The United States notified the World Trade Organization that it has fully complied with the WTO's findings in the Boeing subsidies dispute, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said May 6. The European Union and U.S. have been battling for 15 years over whose subsidies to their aircraft manufacturers distort trade. The WTO has said that both sides were in the wrong, and the U.S. currently has Section 301 tariffs on about $7.5 billion worth of European aircraft, food, apparel, linens, tools, wine and spirits in a WTO-sanctioned retaliation for past Airbus subsidies.
The United Nations Security Council amended a sanctions entry for Martin Koumtamadji, the leader of an anti-government militia in the Central African Republic, according to a May 5 notice. The update provides more identifying information. Koumtamadji was sanctioned by the UNSC and the United Kingdom in April (see 2004220011).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Nicaragua sanctions to match the recent designations by the European Union of six Nicaraguan officials (see 2005050016), according to a May 5 notice. All six officials are now subject to an asset freeze.
The U.S. should be mindful of not harming the U.S. technology industry as it seeks to impose export restrictions on semiconductor shipments to China, said James Andrew Lewis, director of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those restrictions could cut the U.S. off from consumers, leading foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their products and build alternate supply sources, Lewis said in a May 5 CSIS post.
The Treasury Department fined a Kansas animal nutrition company more than $250,000 for illegally exporting agricultural goods to Cuba, which violated U.S. sanctions, according to a May 6 notice. The company, BIOMIN America, completed 30 illegal sales to Cuba between 2012 and 2017 and did not have a sanctions compliance program, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said. If BIOMIN had consulted with OFAC before the sales took place, the company may have received a license, the agency said.