Venezuela is asking a World Trade Organization panel to intervene in U.S.-imposed sanctions on the country, including those imposed on Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-run oil company, according to a memo Venezuela sent to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body chairperson. The U.S. “refused” consultations with Venezuelan officials after the country requested consultations in December, prompting Venezuela to take the next step and request establishment of a WTO dispute resolution panel. In the memo, Venezuela describes the U.S. actions as “coercive and trade-restrictive measures” and an “attempt to isolate it economically.” Venezuela also called them “discriminatory.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 11-15 in case they were missed.
The United Kingdom signed trade continuity agreements with Fiji and Papua New Guinea to continue trading on the same terms after the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the European Union, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said. “The agreement allows businesses to trade as freely as they do now, without any additional barriers or tariffs. It eliminates all tariffs on all goods imported from Fiji and Papua New Guinea into the UK and will gradually remove around 80% of tariffs on British exports to these countries,” it said.
China is temporarily eliminating import tariffs on certain oil-meal products in an effort to find an alternative for soybean meal, according to a March 11 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The 2019 tariff change was set for this, along with other selected commodities, at the end of 2018 “to encourage oil meal imports as a substitute,” USDA said, as a result of the sharp drop in soybean imports in 2018 because of the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. USDA defines the oil-related products as “plant-based oil meals,” which includes oil residue resulting from extractions of peanut oil, cotton seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, rapeseeds, coconuts and “other plant products used in animal feeding.” China has eliminated import tariffs on those products for 2019, starting Jan. 1, the report said.
Indonesia and Australia signed a trade agreement that provides tariff benefits for Australia and eases restrictions on import licenses on certain agricultural products, according to a notice from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The agreement, called the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, provides Australia with lowered tariffs and “import license advantages” on “live cattle, frozen beef, sheep meat, feed grains, citrus products, carrots, and potatoes,” according to a March 8 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Mexican government is considering adding new products to a list of U.S. goods that face higher tariffs in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. During a March 6 meeting "of the Foreign Trade Commission of the Mexican Senate, Luz Maria de la Mora-Sanchez, Foreign Trade Undersecretary of Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, announced that the Mexican government is planning to include additional items on its list of U.S. products subject to retaliatory measures," law firm Thompson Hine said in a blog post. The additional goods may be finalized by April, Thompson Hine said.
The United Kingdom would temporarily set tariffs at zero for nearly 90 percent of imported goods should it leave the European Union with no transition deal in place, the U.K. Department for International Trade said in a March 13 press release announcing a draft tariff and customs scheme in the run-up to a vote in Parliament on whether to leave with no deal.
A transition deal on the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union failed for a second time in the U.K. Parliament on March 12, setting up a series of votes on whether to leave the EU with no deal and whether to delay Brexit, according to a statement following the vote from U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
CBP would like even more public feedback on how to modernize the agency's processes and regulations, CBP said in a notice. CBP said it is reopening the comment period until April 11 to allow for new input after it held a March 1 meeting to discuss a wide range of ideas for updates. The March 1 meeting included few mentions of exports, but the docket of the original request for comments includes multiple suggestions and criticisms on the export side.
Acting Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Michael Khouri was designated chairman of the agency by President Donald Trump on March 7, the FMC said in a news release.