Congress, federal agencies and state bar associations should work together on new regulations to ensure U.S. lawyers aren't enabling Russia-related sanctions evasion, Stanford Law School lecturer Erik Jensen and a host of law students recommended in a recent report.
The Federal Maritime Commission collected more than $2.3 million in fines after entering into compromise agreements with three companies, the FMC said May 29. The companies, CMA-CGM, Vangaurd Logistics Services and Shipco Transport, paid money to resolve various allegations of shipping violations that had been investigated by the commission’s Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance.
The U.S. and other countries imposing sanctions and export controls on Russia need a more “aggressive” plan to cripple Moscow’s war effort, a group of researchers and economists said, including through tighter financial restrictions, new bans on Russian commodities and broader export controls. They also said American lawyers should have to follow strict due diligence and reporting rules when taking on clients with ties to Russia, and said the price cap on Russian oil should be lowered.
Brazil temporarily removed tariffs on all imports of paddy rice, husked/brown rice and milled rice, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report last week. The duty suspension, meant to prevent “potential supply issues” and replenish Brazilian rice stocks following recent floods, is effective from May 21 until Dec. 31, USDA said. The agency said this could “stimulate” American rice exporters to focus on Brazil, pointing to a similar situation in 2020 when Brazil introduced duty-free imports and the U.S. became the top exporter behind the Mercosur countries in Latin America.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 21 defended the U.S. government's use of sanctions against China, saying the Biden administration resorts to punitive measures only when diplomatic efforts fail to achieve the desired result.
The Census Bureau emailed tips this week on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System.
American, German and British environmental and trade politics experts agreed at an American-German Institute event on "Squaring the Transatlantic Circle" on climate policy that although it seems like Western Europe and the U.S. should be united on goals and interests, their economic competition and even pride stand in the way.
A recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling could have implications for how certain sanctions-related payment issues are treated under force majeure clauses in contracts.
Mexico last week removed tariffs on certain aluminum imports because of a shortage in domestic production of raw unalloyed and alloyed aluminum. The country is revoking its 35% tariff on unalloyed aluminum and 20% tariff on alloyed aluminum imports from countries with which it doesn’t have a free trade deal. “The availability of said merchandise in countries with which Mexico has signed an international treaty on trade matters is insufficient to satisfy the supply of the automotive industries, auto parts, and electronics, among others, which is why it is necessary to delete” the tariffs, Mexico said in a notice published in its Diario Oficial de la Federacion May 8, according to an unofficial translation. The tariffs had been in place since April as part of a broader package of increased duties.
China again extended its Section 301 retaliatory tariff exclusion period for sorbitol and other non-U.S. agricultural goods, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service said in a May report. The exclusion period was scheduled to expire April 30 but now will remain in effect until Nov. 30. USDA said this is the seventh time China has extended the exclusion period for sorbitol, adding that the U.S. was the third-largest supplier of sorbitol to China in 2023, with Chinese imports reaching $1.2 million.