On October 17, 2019, the International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register a document [Docket No. ITA-2019-0007] seeking public comment on any subsidies, including stumpage subsidies, provided by certain countries exporting softwood lumber or softwood lumber products to the United States during the period January 1, 2019, through June 30, 2019. Section 805 of Title VIII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008), mandates that the…
On October 17, 2019, CBP issued CSMS #40281968 – Additional Duty on Products of the Countries of the European Union Under Large Civil Aircraft Section 301 Trade Remedy Action, which is reproduced below: BACKGROUND The U.S. Trade Representative has determined that the EU and certain member states have denied U.S. rights under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement and have failed to implement WTO Dispute Settlement Body recommendations concerning certain subsidies to the EU large…
On October 16, 2019, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking [USCBP-2019-0037] to amend the CBP regulations pertaining to importations of merchandise that violate or are suspected of violating the copyright laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), in accordance with Title III of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA). The proposed amendments set forth in the document are intended to…
On October 14, 2019, President Trump released a statement that said that he would be “issuing an Executive Order authorizing the imposition of sanctions against current and former officials of the Government of Turkey and any persons contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in northeast Syria.” He also said the steel tariffs will be increased back up to 50 percent, the level prior to reduction to 25% in May. The United States will also immediately stop…
On October 9, 2019, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 28 Chinese entities to the Entity List because they are accused by the US Government of being associated with human rights violations and abuses against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinijiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). All exports, reexports, or in-country transfers of items (i.e., goods, software, technology) subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR),…
On 14 October 2019, the Dutch government announced that on 11 October 2019, the government decided, in response to the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, to tighten Dutch arms export policy with regard to Turkey. Until further notice, all new license applications for the export of military goods to Turkey will be held and no new licenses will be issued. Other EU partners, such as France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Belgium, have also tightened their national…
On 14 October 2019, the Council of the EU announced that it has extended restrictive measures by the EU addressing the use and proliferation of chemical weapons until 16 October 2020. These sanctions, which consist of a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze for persons, as well as an asset freeze for entities, currently apply to nine persons – five linked to the Syrian regime and four involved in the Salisbury attack…
On 14 October 2019, the Council of the European Union announced that it adopted a framework for targeted restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua. The press release stated: This framework provides for the possibility of imposing targeted and individual sanctions against persons and entities responsible for human rights violations or abuses or for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Nicaragua, as well as persons and entities whose actions, policies…
On October 11, 2019, President Trump met with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at the White House and announced the United States and China had come to “a very substantial phase one deal” that will probably take three to five weeks to put into writing. According to the President, the interim agreement includes intellectual property, financial services and an agricultural deal involving the purchase of $40 to $50 billion worth of agricultural products annually [compared…
On 14 October 2019, the WTO announced that members agreed at a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to authorize the United States to impose countermeasures on European Union goods and services trade with the US up to a value of USD 7,496.623 million annually. The authorization was granted in line with a WTO arbitrator decision issued on 2 October [see below]. The announcement said: The authorization was granted as a result of the…