In filings at the USMCA Secretariat, Mexico and Canada say the Uniform Regulations for USMCA are clear, and say that " roll-up applies to the calculation of [regional value content] RVC for a vehicle. It obliges Parties to take 'no account' of the non-originating materials contained in an originating good when that good is used in the subsequent production of another good."
The U.S. is considering new sanctions against a Middle East-based businessman and a network of companies exporting Iranian oil and disguising it as Iraqi, The Wall Street Journal reported July 31. The sanctions could target a United Arab Emirates-based businessperson and several other individuals and firms that have been conducting ship-to-ship transfers of the oil in waters between Iran and Iraq, the report said. The ships then forge documents to hide the oil's true origin and evade Western sanctions. But the U.S. may not impose the sanctions, the report said, because it’s “balancing the desire” to limit funds to Iran’s nuclear program while also battling inflation partly caused by international sanctions against Russia, one of the world’s largest oil exporters. The White House didn’t comment.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 2 suspended the export privileges of a Venezuela-based cargo airline for violating U.S. export controls. The agency said Empresa de Transporte Aéreocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation Company, acquired control of a U.S.-origin Boeing aircraft from Mahan Air -- Iran’s sanctioned airline -- and illegally flew that plane between Venezuela, Iran and Russia. BIS suspended the airlines’ export privileges for 180 days, barring it from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU dropped Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli from its Libya sanctions list following his death, the European Council said in a July 27 implementing decision. Al-Werfalli was originally listed in 2020. A former commander of the Benghazi-based al-Saiqa Brigade, he allegedly was involved in various human rights abuses, including executions in Libya. The council also updated the statement of reasons for the sanctions listings of Russian businessman Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and Quren Salih Al Qadhafi, a former Libyan ambassador to Chad.
Trade groups that represent semiconductor manufacturers and customers lauded the Senate's passage of incentives for domestic manufacturing, while unions and a union-funded advocacy group both praised the bill and said trade provisions that were not included still need to pass.
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.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit updated the open general export license for military goods and technology to India. The move updated the conditions for shipping software or source code under the license. One condition says software or source code being exported must not be intended to boost the military capability of the end user beyond what was originally supplied under the U.K.'s license issued within the previous two years.
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.
The U.S. will ramp up sanctions pressure against Iran if it doesn’t return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser. Sullivan also said Iran is preparing to send weapons technology to Russia in violation of international export controls.
Although tensions over Mexico's discouragement of foreign investment in its energy sector and the perennial problem of migration are likely to be front and center, panelists at a Wilson Center Mexico Institute program previewing the Mexican president's visit to Washington said nearshoring ought to be a focus as well.