The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has posted comments by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, Senator Max Baucus, the National Foreign Trade Council and others on the June 26, 2010 announcement that USTR Kirk would be initiating new discussions with Korea with the aim of resolving outstanding issues on the pending U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement by November.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the name of one individual in Congo whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13413, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo," effective June 24, 2010.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a proposed rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations to add Export Control Classification Number 6A981 to the Commerce Control List, which would impose new foreign policy export and reexport controls on certain infrasound sensors.
U.S. and Angolan trade and development officials met on June 28, 2010 to discuss means for strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties. The U.S. Trade Representative reports that the meeting was the first held under the United States-Angola Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which was signed in May 2009. The TIFA provides a high-level forum for advancing cooperation on the full spectrum of trade and investment issues between the United States and Angola.
The Foreign Trade Zone Board is inviting public comment by July 12, 2010 on its staff's preliminary recommendation pertaining to the application by the Port of Moses Lake Public Corporation to establish a subzone at the REC Silicon facility in Moses Lake, Washington. Rebuttal comments are due by July 27, 2010.
The DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 32.4 percent higher in April 2010 than in April 2009, reaching $65.8 billion. This June 29, 2010 release also states that the 32.4 percent increase is the third consecutive monthly increase of at least 24 percent from the previous year.
The Justice Department reports that John Webster Warwick, 64, a Virginia Beach, Va. resident, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to 37 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials to secure maritime contracts.The U.S. District Court Judge also sentenced Warwick to two years of supervised release following his prison term. In addition, Warwick forfeited $331,000 in proceeds of the crime.
The Department of Energy has issued a supplemental notice containing additional language and definitions to its December 2008 proposed rule to amend test procedures for residential clothes dryers and room air conditioners to provide for measurement of standby mode and off mode power use. DOE will hold a public meeting on July 14, 2010, and comments are due by August 30.
The Justice Department has announced that Technip S.A., a global engineering, construction and services company based in Paris, has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty to resolve charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. The EPC contracts to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Bonny Island, Nigeria, were valued at more than $6 billion.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has announced that Plane Cargo Inc. (PCI), a freight forwarder located in Houston, TX, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $ 5,200 to settle one allegation that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations.