Niloufar Bahadorifar, a U.S. citizen originally from Iran, was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by providing financial services to the Iranian government and for structuring cash deposits, DOJ announced. The Irvine, California, resident was found guilty of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decided to extend the ban on all exports to North Korea and all imports originating in or shipped from North Korea, starting April 14 until April 13, 2025. Goods that are exported to North Korea for humanitarian purposes are exempt from the restrictions.
India extended until Dec. 31 the transition period for the mandatory filing of applications for Non-Preferential Certificates of Origin via its electronic certificate of origin platform. The online process will not be mandatory until Dec. 31, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said.
The State Department this week extended its open general license pilot program for three years, allowing users to continue using the licenses beyond the original July 31 expiration date. The agency’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said the extension will help it “collect sufficient data to consider the usefulness” of the pilot -- which includes a license each for certain reexports and retransfers -- and will give companies “sufficient certainty” to continue relying on the licenses “without fear that they could expire more quickly than a traditional license.”
China held its eighth round of free trade agreement negotiations with Israel March 20-23, the Ministry of Commerce announced, according to an unofficial translation. The talks centered on trade in goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade remedies, e-commerce, environmental regulations, intellectual property rights competition, government procurement and dispute settlement, the ministry said. The FTA talks started in 2016.
In more than four hours of questioning during a hearing March 24 before the House Ways and Means Committee, no member of Congress advocated for lessening tariffs on Chinese goods under Section 301, or for reopening exclusions applications.
The two lawmakers who spearheaded last year's House ocean shipping reform bill plan to introduce new legislation this week that could further expand the Federal Maritime Commission’s authority. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said he and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., plan to introduce the “Ocean Shipping Reform Act 2.0,” which could “undo some of the damage the Senate did” to revise OSRA before it passed both chambers in June.
The Census Bureau is still deciding whether to introduce a country of origin reporting requirement in the Automated Export System despite receiving mostly opposing comments on the proposal, with trade groups saying the change could lead to costly compliance challenges (see 2203160026 and 2301230008). Gerry Horner, chief of the agency’s trade regulations branch, said the division should be meeting with upper management “very soon” to decide on the best path forward.
New frequently asked questions on the Bureau of Industry and Security's October China chip controls are “almost through their clearance process,” Sharron Cook, a BIS official, said during a Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting this week. “Those should be up shortly,” she said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is hoping its new Disruptive Technology Strike Force leads to more investigations of export control violations, faster prosecutions and more criminal enforcement actions, said John Sonderman, director of the BIS Office of Export Enforcement. The agency also is looking to clamp down on U.S.-origin items ending up in Iranian drones, said Kevin Kurland of OEE, warning that companies should make sure they’re complying with the new Iran Foreign Direct Product Rule issued last month.