Although the new administration has made domestic policy and combating the COVID-19 pandemic a priority for President Joe Biden’s first year in office, officials are beginning to prepare behind the scenes for more trade engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, said Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific. But Campbell also said traders shouldn’t expect much action on that front this year.
Although some port situations have improved, exporters are still facing a range of challenges moving products out of terminals due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including equipment shortages and high ocean freight rates, shipping industry officials said. The problems caused by the pandemic have even forced some companies to change their long-term export strategies and reassess how they work with ocean carriers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add four Myanmar entities to the Entity List July 6 for their support of the country’s Ministry of Defense, including through funding and the provision of telecommunications services, the agency said in a notice. BIS will also correct the address for an existing Myanmar entity on the list. The companies “pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved” in activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, BIS said, adding that the license restrictions will support U.S. efforts to return democracy to Myanmar.
The Census Bureau is considering a proposed rule that would require export filers to declare the country of origin for foreign products included in certain transactions. The agency considered the change about five years ago but has recently returned to the idea and expects to issue a proposal “soon,” said Omari Wooden, a senior Census official. “It’s something that's on the horizon,” Wooden said, speaking during the American Association of Exporters and Importers annual conference June 30. “You'll probably be seeing more information about that soon.”
A shift toward list-based sanctions and a rise in federal government compliance expectations are causing increasing challenges for the compliance community, compliance professionals said. At the center of those challenges are the designations imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is setting a high bar for due diligence by more clearly describing its compliance expectations in settlement agreements.
The U.S. and its allies should expand sanctions and continue cutting off China from sensitive technologies as it further undermines democracy in Hong Kong, experts and a U.S. lawmaker said. They also said the U.S. should consider making China meet certain human rights standards before allowing companies to do business there and should work closer with European partners to close off Chinese access to global markets.
The Defense Department June 28 published an unclassified list of entities that qualify as Chinese military companies. DOD is required to publish a list annually through 2030 under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. President Joe Biden recently expanded a Trump-era policy that banned investments in Chinese military companies (see 2106030067). The State Department listed the following entities:
The multilateral Nuclear Suppliers Group met last week for the first time in more than a year to discuss export controls over nuclear weapons, the Iran nuclear deal, nonproliferation trade restrictions and more. The 48 member countries proposed updates to NSG export control lists and tapped a U.S. official to be a new group chair. Last year’s plenary was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China has doubled down on efforts to illegally buy oil from Iran due to expectations that the Biden administration is close to easing sanctions on Iran (see 2106240044), the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission said in a June 28 report. Since late 2020, China has “significantly” increased its purchases of Iranian oil “with falsified identification from countries” such as Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, according to the report, which cites data published by Refinitiv.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. security equipment manufacturer $140,000 for illegally exporting stun guns, police batons, handcuffs and pepper spray to countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, BIS said in a June 23 order. The company, Florida-based Skyline USA, also violated Export Administration Regulations recordkeeping requirements for the exports, which were shipped to Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. The exports, sent during 2014 to 2016, were worth about $50,000.