An American Enterprise Institute trade scholar says "Japan has chosen a dangerous and destructive mode of retaliation, one that is likely to greatly disrupt global electronic supply chains and bolster China’s push for dominance of 5G wireless," and it's not justified, even if South Korea has been provoking its former occupier.
Four Chinese nationals and a Chinese company were charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and U.S. sanctions after they did business with sanctioned North Korean companies, the Justice Department said in a July 23 press release. The charges were brought against Ma Xiaohong, her company Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd. (DHID) and three of the company’s top executives: general manager Zhou Jianshu (Zhou), deputy general manager Hong Jinhua (Hong) and financial manager Luo Chuanxu (Luo).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued an advisory on Iran’s “deceptive practices” in the civil aviation industry, detailing Iran’s use of commercial airlines for terrorism, weapons programs and sanctions violations. The eight-page advisory, issued July 23, lists several practices U.S. companies should be aware of to avoid violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The advisory also reviews the U.S.’s current Iran sanctions regime as well as penalties for committing violations.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 15-19 in case they were missed.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s amendments to its reporting, procedures and penalties regulations has caused a “great deal of confusion” among U.S. companies, the American Association of Exporters and Importers said in July 22 comments to the agency. AAEI said several of the updates are unclear, including OFAC’s new reporting requirements for rejected transactions and the update that expands the scope of transactions that must be reported.
Britain published its Strategic Export Controls Annual Report for 2018 on July 18, which includes details of the United Kingdom’s export policies, licensing decisions, and other significant developments from 2018. The report also covers compliance with U.K. export controls and policy developments relating to Brexit.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on a Chinese national and a Chinese entity under OFAC’s Iran-related sanctions regime, the agency said in a notice. OFAC is sanctioning Youmin Li and Zhuhai Zhenrong Company Limited, an entity with addresses in Beijing and Guangdong, OFAC said. Both Youmin and Zhuhai Zhenrong were added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is inserting technical changes and adding references in several of its sanctions regimes, OFAC said in a notice in the July 23 Federal Register. The changes amend the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR) and the Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations (TCOSR) to make references to the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018, OFAC said. The agency is also amending the GTSR to “implement and reference” the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act of 2018 and amending the TCOSR to implement a March executive order relating to “significant transnational criminal organizations.” The notice also makes several “technical and conforming changes” to certain provisions of the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which corrects two “internal references” and details sanctions exemptions that allow for U.S. compliance with United Nations regulations, OFAC said. The changes take effect July 23.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of July 19 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a July 17 notice saying that Access Certificates for Electronic Services (ACES) certificates are required to “access the DTrade defense export licensing system.” The DDTC said all ACES certificates “must expire” before Aug. 1, 2020, and that the ACES provider, IdenTrust, will continue to issue certificates if they are “posted with an expiration date” of July 31, 2020, or earlier. “If you purchase an ACES certificate after July 31st, 2019, the validity period will be truncated to less than a full year,” the DDTC said. Questions about the ACES transition should be directed to IdenTrust at Support@IdenTrust.com or to the DDTC’s help desk at dtradehelpdesk@state.gov.