If countries place trade restrictions on food supplies similar to those on medical goods, the global supply chain could see significant agricultural shortages within months, trade experts said during a Washington International Trade Association webinar. But even without export controls on food, restrictions on movement and other COVID-19-related controls are already beginning to impact the flow of food goods, the experts said.
The U.S. government appealed a March court decision that blocked the Trump administration from transferring oversight of 3D printing of firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department (see 2003090029). The appeal, filed May 5, aims to lift the temporary injunction, which the administration has said is based on a misunderstanding of export regulations (see 2002270014).
The United States notified the World Trade Organization that it has fully complied with the WTO's findings in the Boeing subsidies dispute, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said May 6. The European Union and U.S. have been battling for 15 years over whose subsidies to their aircraft manufacturers distort trade. The WTO has said that both sides were in the wrong, and the U.S. currently has Section 301 tariffs on about $7.5 billion worth of European aircraft, food, apparel, linens, tools, wine and spirits in a WTO-sanctioned retaliation for past Airbus subsidies.
The United Nations Security Council amended a sanctions entry for Martin Koumtamadji, the leader of an anti-government militia in the Central African Republic, according to a May 5 notice. The update provides more identifying information. Koumtamadji was sanctioned by the UNSC and the United Kingdom in April (see 2004220011).
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its Nicaragua sanctions to match the recent designations by the European Union of six Nicaraguan officials (see 2005050016), according to a May 5 notice. All six officials are now subject to an asset freeze.
The U.S. should be mindful of not harming the U.S. technology industry as it seeks to impose export restrictions on semiconductor shipments to China, said James Andrew Lewis, director of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those restrictions could cut the U.S. off from consumers, leading foreign companies to design U.S. components out of their products and build alternate supply sources, Lewis said in a May 5 CSIS post.
The Treasury Department fined a Kansas animal nutrition company more than $250,000 for illegally exporting agricultural goods to Cuba, which violated U.S. sanctions, according to a May 6 notice. The company, BIOMIN America, completed 30 illegal sales to Cuba between 2012 and 2017 and did not have a sanctions compliance program, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said. If BIOMIN had consulted with OFAC before the sales took place, the company may have received a license, the agency said.
The United Nations issued a sanctions exemption to allow a South Korean non-governmental organization to ship goods into North Korea, according to an April 30 UN letter. The organization, Greentree International, will import a range of construction materials into North Korea for an “agricultural rehabilitation project” to assist people with disabilities. The items will be shipped together in a “consolidated manner” to increase “efficiency of shipping and custom clearance.”
The European Council sanctioned six people responsible for human rights violations in Nicaragua, according to a May 4 press release. The EU sanctioned Ramon Antonio Avellan Medal, Sonia Castro Gonzalez, Francisco Javier Diaz Madriz, Nestor Moncada Lau, Luis Perez Olivas and Justo Pastor Urbina. All six people are officials working for Nicaragua’s National Police or the government.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 27 - May 1 in case you missed them.