The Bureau of Industry and Security is correcting a recent notice of changes to its Unverified List to fix errant names and addresses on newly added entities. “These omissions were inadvertent and failure to correct them would cause confusion and possibly compromise national security,” it said. BIS on May 17 added 33 entities from Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates to the list, which includes entities for which the U.S. government failed to complete satisfactory end-use checks, and therefore could not verify the entities' bona fides (see 1805160023).
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
New tariffs on U.S. goods exported to the European Union and Canada touch on a wide range of products, with a heavy focus on steel and aluminum products. The EU and Canadian tariffs are meant as a response to the Trump administration's decision to end the exemptions from tariffs on steel and aluminum goods from the EU, Canada and Mexico (see 1805310028). Mexico also plans to initiate new tariffs on U.S. goods, though it has not yet publicly released a list of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings, a spokeswoman for the Mexican Embassy in the U.S. said. China put new tariffs in place in April in response to the Section 232 tariffs.
The Commerce Department has launched an investigation into the need for tariffs on cars and auto parts in a move widely seen as an attempt to pressure Mexico to accept a NAFTA rewrite. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on May 24 that "there is evidence suggesting that, for decades, imports from abroad have eroded our domestic auto industry,” and the department will explore whether by damaging the U.S. economy and reducing research in auto-related technology, the decline of domestic auto and auto part manufacturing therefore is a national security issue. Currently, SUVs and trucks face a 25 percent tariff, while cars and auto parts face a 2.5 percent tariff outside the NAFTA region, or if a Canadian or Mexican vehicle fails to meet a 62.5 percent rules of origin quota.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website May 18, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADD CVD Search page.
The Commerce Department issued antidumping duty orders on carbon and alloy steel wire rod from Italy, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom (A-475-836, A-580-891, A-469-816, A-489-831, A-412-826), and a countervailing duty order on finished carbon and alloy steel wire rod from Italy and Turkey (C-475-837, C-489-832).
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add to the Unverified List 33 entities with addresses in Canada, China, Estonia, Finland, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. The agency's final rule also adds a new address for one currently listed company, Ling Ao Electronic Technology of Hong Kong. The Unverified List includes entities for which the U.S. government failed to complete satisfactory end-use checks, and therefore could not verify the entities' bona fides. The use of license exceptions under the EAR is prohibited for entities on the Unverified List, and certain record-keeping requirements also apply. Additions to the list are as follows:
The State Department updated its list of countries certified to have a regulatory program for protection of sea turtles that is comparable to that of the U.S., or to fish in conditions that pose no risk to sea turtles, and therefore eligible to export shrimp to the U.S. without a certification from a government official on State Form DS-2031. The list includes 39 countries and Hong Kong. Countries with a comparable regulatory program include Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama and Suriname. Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Uruguay harvest in an environment that poses no risk; and the Bahamas, Belize, China, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Oman, Peru, Sri Lanka and Venezuela employ practices that don’t pose a risk to sea turtles, State said.
The State Department is barring companies in China, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Russia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates from controlled export transactions and U.S. government procurement under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, it said in a notice. The agency’s order applies to the following entities, as well as any of their affiliates or successors:
CBP is working on a regulatory update for its prohibition on imports made by forced labor that it hopes will offer some guidance for compliance, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner-trade at CBP, while speaking at an April 25 American Apparel and Footwear Association event. That should help to alleviate some, but not all, of the concerns over a change in law that requires CBP to treat goods made by North Koreans as made through forced labor, Smith said. "We also have been looking at our regulations to understand where the gaps are and why we are not as effective as we would like to be," she said.
A federal court recently rejected an attempt by a Canada-based importer to get its rejected corn shipment released by CBP and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. In an order dated April 20, the Eastern California U.S. District Court denied Sunrise Foods’ motion for a temporary restraining order for a shipment of corn purportedly from Turkey but later found to be of Russian, Moldovan and Kazakhstani origin. The court found Sunrise could not have been suffering too much, given the month it waited before requesting the TRO.