Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said U.S. sanctions are not being enforced effectively and criticized what he said is a lack of U.S. involvement in the Japan-South Korea trade dispute.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
U.S. exporters say they are increasingly losing market share in China to European and Japanese companies as the trade war drags on, panelists said during a discussion at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Sept. 25. Some U.S. companies are also losing out on Chinese license approvals as foreign competitors get to skip the line, one trade lawyer said.
Imposing sanctions and export controls on certain people and entities in Hong Kong for human rights violations may not achieve the U.S.’s goal and may only hurt U.S. companies, said William Reinsch, an international business chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The U.S. and Japan signed a deal to open Japanese market access to more than $7 billion worth of U.S. agricultural exports, the White House said Sept. 25. The deal -- announced after President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met at the United Nations General Assembly in New York -- is an initial agreement as the two sides continue negotiating a comprehensive trade deal “in the months ahead,” the White House said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 25 announced sanctions on two subsidiaries of COSCO Shipping Corporation and clarified that the designation does not apply to their parent company or any of other COSCO affiliates. In total, OFAC announced sanctions on five people and six entities and issued a new Frequently Asked Questions document.
CBP will eliminate penalties for minor violations of Census Bureau export filing requirements as part of its upcoming electronic export manifest rollout, said Jim Swanson, director of CBP’s Cargo and Security Controls Division.
L3 Harris Technologies reached a $13 million settlement with the State Department for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, according to an order released Sept. 23 by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. The violations by Harris Corporation, a technology and defense contractor, occurred before it officially merged in July with L3 Technologies, an aerospace and defense company.
It may only be a matter of time before countries create a trade payment system to avoid U.S. sanctions, said David Mortlock, a trade lawyer and senior fellow with the Atlantic Council.
The recently released 2020 incoterms rules (see 1909100056) are easier to use and understand compared to previous versions, one of several significant changes to the International Chamber of Commerce’s latest revisions, said Frank Reynolds, the U.S. delegate for the ICC’s 2020 drafting group. The ICC said the new incoterms edition is “more accessible” and includes “more detailed explanatory notes with enhanced graphics” to clarify the responsibilities of exporters and importers. It also includes an “extensive introduction … that anybody can understand,” Reynolds said in an interview.
U.S. and India face significant trade tensions that won't be easily solved, a trade expert said, adding that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken more steps to close off trade than the country’s past two leaders. “I get asked, is India the next [U.S.] target?” said Rick Rossow, a senior adviser for U.S.-India policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Those of us that are in the trenches, there are already bombs dropping. There are already bullets whizzing by. It's pretty serious.”