The Trump administration is considering increasing sanctions pressure on Venezuela by imposing sanctions on companies from third countries that do business with President Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan regime, according to a March 29 report by Reuters. The potential move was announced by John Bolton, White House national security adviser, who told Reuters the administration is moving in the “direction” of secondary sanctions.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 25-29 in case they were missed.
The U.S. continues to pursue “vigorous engagement” with China to “increase the benefits” that U.S. businesses, service providers and consumers “derive from trade and economic ties” with the Chinese, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its annual report on global foreign trade barriers (see 1904010045). China’s trade practices “in several specific areas,” especially forced technology transfer and the Made in China 2025 industrial program, continue to “cause particular concern” for U.S. “stakeholders,” USTR said.
India again delayed retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the U.S., pushing the new start to May 2, according to a notice from India’s Ministry of Finance. The tariffs, first announced in May 2018 and most recently delayed until April 1, 2019, will target agricultural products, motorcycles, steel products, and phosphoric and boric acid, and are aimed at offsetting the $241 million in duties India expects its U.S. customers to pay on its steel and aluminum exports. The tariffs have been delayed multiple times after they were originally expected to take effect in June 2018. Many of the items already face high tariffs -- walnuts are taxed at 100 percent, fresh apples at 50 percent, chickpeas at 60 percent, motorcycles at 100 percent -- but the actions would add 10 percent more to many ag products, 20 percent more to walnuts and almonds, and 50 percent more to motorcycles.
China will continue to suspend tariffs on U.S.-made cars and auto parts past April 1, according to a notice from China’s State Council and a report from Reuters. In December, China originally announced it was suspending additional 25 percent tariffs on U.S. vehicles and parts as a show of good faith as the two countries negotiated a trade deal. The tariff suspension was scheduled to end April 1, but China announced on March 31 that the country would be upholding the suspension to “create a good atmosphere for the ongoing trade negotiations between both sides,” according to Reuters. China’s State Council said it will announce at a later date when the extension will expire.
Because the Trump administration has cheered on Brexit, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., thinks Congress should not consent to starting negotiations with the United Kingdom on a free trade agreement. Murphy, who spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York April 1, said the U.S. should reach a free trade agreement with the European Union first. Though, in a quick acknowledgement of the difficulty the two sides had during Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks, Murphy added "or at least give that FTA a serious try."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer touched on India’s potential retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and criticized the country’s “significant tariff and nontariff barriers” in the 2019 National Trade Estimate on Foreign Trade Barriers. The 540-page report, released March 29, said India’s tariff barriers “impede imports of U.S. products into India” and was critical of India’s “complex” customs system and failure to “observe transparency requirements.”
China will continue to suspend tariffs on U.S.-made cars and auto parts past April 1, according to a notice from China’s Ministry of Finance. In December, China originally announced it was suspending additional 25 percent tariffs on U.S. vehicles and parts as a show of good faith as the two countries negotiated a trade deal. The tariff suspension was scheduled to end April 1, but China announced on March 31 that the country would be upholding the suspension to “create a good atmosphere for economic and trade consultations between the two sides,” according to an unofficial translation of the announcement. The Ministry of Finance said it will announce at a later date when the extension will expire.
Canada may pursue an increase in its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods as part of an effort to convince President Donald Trump to end the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a March 29 report. Mexico too is said to be considering an expansion to its retaliatory tariffs (see 1903140025). Additional tariffs on the U.S. are hoped to push Trump toward lifting the metals tariffs as part of U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade deal, the CBC reported.
A task force of sanctions policy experts published a list of trends that could have an impact on the future of U.S. sanctions, providing evidence of a U.S. shift toward unilateral foreign policy decisions and warning of unintended consequences from sanctions that are increasingly complex, according to a report commissioned by the Center for a New American Security.