New ways to help farmers get the best yields from their crops and the most from their broadband connections are being pushed by some rural ISPs, we found in interviews last week. Policymakers are looking at how to advance precision agriculture and expand broadband access to farms in unserved communities. The FCC plans a precision agriculture task force (see 1906170024). And the USDA's ReConnect funds are for expanding connectivity to unserved rural areas (see 1812130064).

New ways to help farmers get the best yields from their crops and the most from their broadband connections are being pushed by some rural ISPs, we found in interviews last week. Policymakers are looking at how to advance precision agriculture and expand broadband access to farms in unserved communities. The FCC plans a precision agriculture task force (see 1906170024). And the USDA's ReConnect funds are for expanding connectivity to unserved rural areas (see 1812130064).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is publishing its first list of product exclusions from the second tranche of $16 billion in Section 301 tariffs on China (see 1808150016). This list of exclusions includes 69 subsets of tariff numbers in chapters 39, 84, 85, 86, 87 and 90. The new exclusions take effect retroactively from Aug. 23, 2018, when the $16 billion in tariffs originally entered into force, and will remain for one year following publication of USTR’s notice. USTR is creating Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 9903.88.12 for the new set of exclusions.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has added $4 billion in European imports to its list of possible retaliatory tariffs for Airbus subsidies, and is inviting interested parties to comment at a hearing or in writing on the 89 tariff subheadings. The U.S. has now identified $25 billion in potential retaliatory tariffs. The newly proposed products include yogurt, butter, cheese, meat, whiskey, olives, fertilizers and metals, and the USTR said the new list was shaped by requests by American producers at the first public hearing (see 1905150038).

In the June 25 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Nations Security Council sanctioned one entity and removed five other entities from its sanctions lists, the U.N. said May 14. The U.N. added the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- Khorasan” to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions list while removing Nessim ben Mohamed al-Cherif ben Mohamed Saleh al-Saadi from the same list, according to press releases. The U.N. also removed sanctions on four separate entities: the Directorate General of Baghdad Electricity Distribution and the Iraq-based Idrisi Centre for Engineering Consultancy (ICEC), National Centre for Engineering and Architectural Consultancy and State Enterprise for Fertilizer Industries.

While Airbus planes and components are at the top of the retaliatory tariff list the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is recommending, many other products are included to reach $11 billion in compensation. It's quite possible that the World Trade Organization will say that the USTR estimate of $11 billion in annual damage to the U.S. civil aircraft industry due to Airbus subsidies is too high, and will authorize a lower tariff total.

Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is proposing several amendments to its value-added tax requirements, including eliminating VAT exemptions for temporary imports and the re-exports of certain goods, according to a report on the Vietnam Customs Department's CustomsNews website. The change would eliminate VAT exemptions for the temporary import and re-export of machinery and equipment used in “investment projects, construction, installation and production,” the report said. Another proposed change would amend a decree for regulating export goods by requiring exporters to provide proof of a “contract for sale” or a “payment receipt” on their customs paperwork, according to the report.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Dec. 12 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Mauritania, which exported about $54.9 million in goods to the U.S. last year under trade preferences, will be barred from the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the beginning of 2019, because of its continuing problem with forced labor. Virtually all of the imports that are covered by AGOA are fuel, though the U.S. does import a few million dollars' worth of fish, fertilizers and other products. President Donald Trump sent a notification of the change to Congress on Nov. 2.