The U.K. this week launched its new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which it said will “go further” than the EU’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences by cutting tariffs on hundreds of additional products exported from developing countries. DCTS will allow a “wide variety” of goods, including clothes and foods that aren’t widely produced in the U.K., such as olive oil and tomatoes, to benefit from reduced or zero tariffs, the country said. The U.K. said the new scheme will allow British companies to see £750 million per year, or about $900 million, in “reduced import costs.” The DCTS, which also will simplify “complex” trade rules such as rules of origin, covers 65 countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
China is preparing to tighten existing import restrictions on certain goods from Taiwan, including products labeled as originating in the “Republic of China,” Bloomberg reported Aug. 5. Beijing objects to Taiwan’s use of the “Republic of China” because it considers Taiwan part of its territory, the report said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 8 sanctioned Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that the agency said has been used to launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019. OFAC said the mixer has been used to launder money stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group and other criminal groups. Tornado cash operates on the “Ethereum blockchain” and “indiscriminately facilitates anonymous transactions by obfuscating their origin, destination, and counterparties, with no attempt to determine their origin,” OFAC said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week charged a Chinese company with violating U.S. export controls when it helped Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation sell controlled items to Iran. The company, Far East Cable, served as a “cutout” between ZTE and several Iranian telecommunications companies, BIS said, helping ZTE “conceal and obfuscate” its business dealings in Iran from U.S. investigators. In total, BIS said Far East Cable committed 18 violations of the Export Administration Regulations.
The EU dropped an entry from its North Korea sanctions regime, in a July 28 decision from the European Council. Pak Chun Il, the former North Korean ambassador to Egypt, was de-listed from the sanctions list following his death, the EuropeanSanctions blog reported. He was originally listed in November 2016. The council also updated the statement of reasons for 17 individuals and one entity in the decision, and added new identifying information for 59 individuals and five entities.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of a Venezuela-based cargo airline for violating U.S. export controls. The agency said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or EMTRASUR, acquired “custody” of a U.S.-origin Boeing aircraft from Mahan Air -- a sanctioned Iranian airline (see 2205160035) -- and illegally flew that plane between Venezuela, Iran and Russia.
The U.K. extended a General License permitting the winding down of positions involving Rosbank for another two months, until Sept. 30, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. The license was originally published in June and permits an individual or entity to wind down any transactions to which they are a party involving Rosbank or one of its subsidiaries, including closing out any positions, repaying loans, withdrawing deposits and closing accounts.
India extended until March 31, 2023, the date for the mandatory electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (NP CoO) forms through the Common Digital Platform, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced Aug. 1. Until that deadline, exporters and NP CoO-issuing agencies have the option of using hard copy or the online system.
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.