The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in a Sept. 7 opinion affirmed the conviction and sentence of Iranian national Mehrdad Ansari for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas convicted Ansari for his role in a scheme to obtain military sensitive parts for Iran in violation of the Iran trade embargo. The appellate court upheld his conviction, rejecting his two constitutional arguments against the district court's ruling and Ansari's evidentiary claims (United States v. Ansari, 5th Cir. #21-50915).
Rixon Rafael Moreno Oropeza, a Venezuelan national and businessman, was charged with making bribe payments and money laundering in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. Per the indictment returned to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Moreno laundered the money made from inflated procurement contracts that were received by making bribes to senior executives at Petropiar -- a joint venture of Venezuela's state-owned energy company and an American oil company.
South Africa requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the EU over certain import restrictions imposed by the EU on South African citrus fruit, the WTO said. The EU measures are phytosanitary requirements concerning oranges and other citrus products related to the Thaumatotibia leucotreta pest, known as the false codling moth. In its consultation, South Africa claimed the EU measures are inconsistent with various parts of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. South Africa characterized the changes as "abrupt and radical," in that they now require cold treatment processes and precooling steps for specific periods for the citrus before it is imported.
The EU General Court in a July 27 judgment rejected RT France's bid to annul sanctions levied against it in March. The restrictions bar EU operators from broadcasting and facilitating the broadcast of RT France and suspend any broadcasting license or arrangement with the media outlet. The court ruled that the European Council didn't violate the law in finding that RT France was controlled by the Russian government and issues statements backing the war in Ukraine. Further, the court dismissed the media company's challenge to the council's reasons for imposing the sanctions, the fairness of the procedures used to make the listing and the arguments that the sanctions were a disproportionate restriction on RT France's right to freedom of expression.
Angela Ellard, a deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, called on WTO member governments to deposit instruments of acceptance with the multilateral trade organization to help the recently negotiated fishery subsidies agreement enter into force. Speaking at a virtual Washington International Trade Association event July 28, Ellard laid out the path ahead for the full adoption of the fisheries agreement while reflecting on steps the WTO looks to take on helping countries fully implement the obligations tied into the agreement. The DDG also spoke of a fund provided for in the agreement which will help less developed countries with the notification and transparency elements of the deal.
The EU this week adopted new sanctions and export controls against Russia in an effort to tighten existing restrictions against the country for its war in Ukraine. The package imposes new bans on the purchase, import or transfer of gold originating in Russia and restricts more exports of dual-use technologies. The measures also extend the EU’s port access ban to better limit Russia’s ability to evade sanctions and expand the scope of restrictions surrounding certain deposits.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a July 19 opinion denied Hong Kong-based apparel company Changji Esquel Textile's (CJE) bid for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the Commerce Department's Entity List, calling it "a Hail Mary pass." Judges Judith Rogers, Patricia Millett and Gregory Katsas held that CJE's claims that human rights violations are not proper grounds to be placed on the Entity List are not likely to succeed, upholding the district court's ruling saying the same thing.
The European Council liberalized trade in seven Moldovan agricultural products in a July 18 regulation, the council announced. The move allows Moldova to "at least" double its exports of tomatoes, garlic, table grapes, apples, cherries, plums and grape juice to the EU tariff-free for one year. The lifting of restrictions is meant to ease the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine on Moldova, whose export industry relies on Ukrainian infrastructure, the council said. Due to the war, Moldova has lost access to Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian markets, the council said.
The England and Wales High Court adjourned a trial involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, only recently releasing the May 6 judgment publicly. Deripaska was sanctioned by many of the world's leading economies in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the defendant cannot pay his lawyers for legal representation in the present case, so the legal team is "coming off the record." The lawyers applied to adjourn to avoid an unfair trial. In vacating the case, Justice Sara Cockerill ruled she is "satisfied in this significant hard-fought and complex case a fair trial would not be possible -- however dim a view one takes of Mr Deripaska's past actions." The case involves a long-running dispute over alleged breaches by Deripaska, with Navigator Equities obtaining an arbitral award against the oligarch.
A World Trade Organization arbitrator determined the methodology Canada can use to set the level of retaliatory measures it can impose on goods imported from the U.S. if the U.S. applies countervailing duties on Canadian goods based on a measure found to be inconsistent with WTO rules. In the July 13 decision, the arbitrator said Canada would set the appropriate level of nullification or impairment in the future "based on the four-variety Armington model," which was recommended by the U.S. and can quantify the trade decline experienced by Canada through a particular use of the U.S.'s adverse facts available measures in CVD proceedings.