A new, “modernized” Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement took effect July 1 that maintains the preferential market access outlined in the two countries' original deal from 2017 while adding new language to further “enhance trade” and incorporate provisions on labor, the environment and more, Canada said this week. “The modernized CUFTA will enhance trade, increase economic cooperation” and “signals Canada’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security, stability and economic recovery following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country,” Canada said. Mary Ng, Canada’s trade minister, said “when the war is over, Canadian businesses and exporters will be ready to help rebuild the Ukraine of tomorrow.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added six entities to the Entity List for either helping to train China’s military, evading U.S. government end-use checks or shipping export-controlled items to Russia. The agency also updated its Unverified List, adding 13 new parties and removing eight others, including one Russian company that it transferred to the Entity List earlier this year. Both rules took effect July 3.
The free trade agreement between China and Serbia will take effect July 1, China's Ministry of Commerce announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the deal will scrap tariffs on 90% of goods, of which over 60% will be eliminated July 1. The deal also includes chapters on "rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, dispute settlement, intellectual property protection, investment cooperation, competition, etc.," the ministry said.
Senior U.S. sanctions and export control officials recently warned a group of American CEOs to do more due diligence on their semiconductor shipments, telling them Chinese suppliers are frequently sending their products to Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 26 renewed a general license that authorizes certain transactions related to crude oil originating from the Sakhalin-2 project, an oil and gas development business based in Russia (see 2309140031 and 2211230047). General License 55B, which replaces 55A, authorizes those transactions “provided that the Sakhalin-2 byproduct is solely for importation into Japan.” The license was scheduled to expire June 28, 2024, but now expires 12:01 a.m. EDT June 28, 2025.
The U.S. fined an Italian animation company $538,000 after it violated U.S. sanctions by outsourcing work to an animation studio owned by the North Korean government, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an enforcement release. The company, Mondo TV, illegally used U.S. banks to send money to the studio through wire transfers, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed more than 50 entries from its Specially Designated National List that were originally added for counter-narcotics reasons. The entries include people and companies based in Colombia and Mexico. The agency didn’t release more information.
The EU this week unveiled its 14th sanctions package against Russia for its war on Ukraine, including new due diligence rules for companies with counterparties that may be selling to Russia. The package also includes new measures to prevent sanctions evasion, new import and export controls, a set of servicing restrictions on certain Russian energy shipments, designations of more than 100 people and entities, and more.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and three other Republican senators have introduced a bill that would require the president to notify Congress before pausing arms deliveries to Israel, Risch’s office announced June 21.
A government technical advisory committee is working on two reports about compliance challenges posed by the Bureau of Industry and Security's foreign direct product rule and its semiconductor export controls.