The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is amending the Export Administration Regulations to further restrict exports and re-exports to Cuba, BIS said in a notice. The amendments change BIS licensing policies and exceptions for certain aircrafts and vessels, establish a 10 percent de minimis level for Cuba, make the Cuban government ineligible for certain donations and clarify the scope of unlicensed telecommunication items the Cuban government can receive. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently said it completed its review of the rule (see 1910150041)

The EU will apply its own tariffs to U.S. products, Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said in a news release. "“We regret the choice of the U.S. to move ahead with tariffs," she said. "This step leaves us no alternative but to follow through in due course with our own tariffs in the Boeing case, where the U.S. has been found in breach of WTO rules."

Companies and trade groups warned the Treasury Department that the proposed regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act may repel foreign investors and customers, fails to clearly define “critical technologies” and could place trusted trading partners at disadvantages, according to comments due Oct. 17.

Although the International Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 incoterms did not make the significant revisions that industries expected, it did introduce several changes that may require updated contacts between importers and exporters.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson will take a second European Union exit deal to the U.K. Parliament on Oct. 19, after coming to new terms with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on an agreement on Brexit. Under the deal, Northern Ireland will formally remain part of the U.K. customs territory, but will also be an entry point into the EU customs zone with no tariffs on goods entering from Ireland and a vote in four years on whether to keep the arrangement in place, according to a BBC report.

Co-chairs of the Department of Homeland Security Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force urged House Homeland Security Committee members to consider enacting new liability protections and incentives to encourage companies and foreign governments to share information on threats to the supply chain. Committee leaders appeared interested, during an Oct. 16 hearing, in further protections. They invoked perceived supply-chain threats posed by Kaspersky Lab and Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.

Two bills that could affect trade with Hong Kong and two resolutions criticizing Hong Kong and China passed the House by voice vote on Oct. 15. H.R. 4270, the PROTECT Hong Kong Act, would ban the export of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to Hong Kong, so that U.S. companies aren't complicit with crackdowns on protestors (see 1909190040). The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, H.R. 3289, requires the State Department to affirm that Hong Kong still deserves its special status in customs and export controls because the one country, two systems agreement for China and Hong Kong is still in force. That bill would also sanction people involved in human rights abuses and the suppression of “basic freedoms” in China and Hong Kong, and would have an annual evaluation of Hong Kong's export control compliance.

Although Trump administration officials have expressed willingness to mediate the Japan-South Korea trade dispute, trade experts suggested the administration -- and members of Congress -- are not currently focused on intervening.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 7-11 in case they were missed.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Turkey’s government and issued three general licenses as Congress called for harsher restrictions on Turkey for its military activities in Syria (see 1910140005). OFAC’s sanctions -- issued after President Donald Trump announced an executive order granting the Treasury and State departments new power to sanction Turkey -- target Turkey’s defense ministry, energy ministry, defense minister (Hulusi Akar), energy minister (Fatih Donmez) and interior minister (Suleyman Soylu). Treasury said more sanctions may be coming.