The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license to allow certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. -- a subsidiary of COSCO Shipping Corporation -- until Dec. 20, OFAC said in an Oct. 24 notice. General License K allows transactions that are necessary to the “maintenance or wind down” of transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) and any entity it owns by more than 50 percent. The license does not authorize transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman and Ship Management Co.
Poland will require importers and other buyers to settle tax payments through a split payment mechanism beginning Nov. 1, and could impose “severe sanctions” on violators, according to an October KPMG alert. The payment mechanism will apply to buyers of electronics, fuels, steel, recyclable materials, car parts and construction services, the report said, with some exemptions available. If a taxpayer makes a payment “without the application of a split payment despite such an obligation,” Poland may impose an “additional tax liability in the amount of 30 percent of the tax attributable to the purchased goods or services,” KPMG said. Under the split payment mechanism, which was made mandatory for certain goods in September, the net amount of a sale is transferred to a regular bank account while the amount of value-added tax is transferred to a designated VAT account, KPMG said.
The U.S. is extending a national emergency to continue sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the White House said in an Oct. 22 message to Congress. The emergency is being extended due to the continued “widespread violence and atrocities” in the Congo that “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the” U.S. foreign policy, the White House said. The sanctions, introduced in a 2006 executive order, block property and transactions with certain people and entities in the Congo.
The Trump administration removed sanctions against Turkey it had imposed just one week earlier, drawing criticism and warnings from some Congress members of future sanctions if Turkey does not end military operations in Syria.
The U.S. will take ownership of a North Korean cargo ship after it violated U.S. sanctions and United Nations Security Council resolutions, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 21 press release. The U.S. originally seized the ship, the “Wise Honest,” after it transported coal and “heavy machinery” to and from North Korea and used U.S. banks for various transactions (see 1905090030). “This order of forfeiture sinks the Wise Honest’s career as one of North Korea’s largest sanctions-busting vessels,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement, adding that the agency “will continue to pursue other property used to violate U.S. and international sanctions.”
The Congressional Research Service released a report Oct. 18 on with updates on U.S. sanctions on Turkey, Turkey’s military purchases from Russia, the potential for new sanctions and other possible U.S. options as Turkey’s military occupies northern Syria. The report details possible outcomes as Congress tries to impose its own set of sanctions on Turkey after the administration said it would lift sanctions in exchange for a ceasefire in Syria (see 1910180060).
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., joined four House members in asking Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to look into possible Global Magnitsky sanctions against Kuwait. The Sept. 27 letter, posted by Crowell & Moring, asks Mnuchin to investigate Kuwait after the conviction and imprisonment of Maria Lazareva, a Russian businesswoman who was accused of embezzlement. Lazareva’s conviction was nullified by a Kuwait court after she served a year in prison.
China disputed claims from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that China is stealing U.S. intellectual property and that it is “difficult” for companies to make a profit in China, saying the U.S. is engaging in “bullying practices.” A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry pointed to a recent survey r released by the U.S.-China Business Council, which reported that 97 percent of the council’s members ran a profitable business in China. “I wonder how Mr. Pompeo came to the conclusion?” the spokesperson said during an Oct. 22 press conference.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control extended the expiration date of a Belarus-related general license, OFAC said in a notice. General License No. 2G, replacing No. 2F, authorizes certain transactions with nine Belarusian entities until April 26, 2021.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 15-18 in case they were missed.