The Commerce Department is issuing an antidumping duty order on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products from Russia (A-821-809) (here). The move comes after Commerce terminated an agreement suspending its AD duty investigation on hot-rolled steel from Russia that had been in place since 1999. Suspension of liquidation and AD duty cash deposit requirements take effect for entries beginning Dec. 19.
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:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 15-19 in case they were missed.
President Barack Obama took executive action on Dec. 18 to stem trade flows between the U.S. and Crimea, the formerly Ukrainian peninsula that Russian absorbed militarily in March. The executive order bans U.S. imports from and exports to Crimea of goods, services or technology, said the White House in a letter to Congress (here). The measure also prohibits new U.S. investment in the territory and restricts transactions.
President Barack Obama signed into law the latest round of legislative authorizations for sanctions against Russia on Dec. 18. The measure, HR-5859 (here), gives guidelines for the Obama administration to put more restrictions on U.S. trade with Russian officials and companies in the defense, energy and banking sectors. The law does not authorize sanctions on imports into the U.S. market.
President Barack Obama will sign the Russia sanctions bill that cleared Congress in recent days, HR-5859 (here), said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest in a Dec. 16 briefing (here). The Senate passed the bill in one of its final acts of this Congress (see 1412160028). The legislation ensures Obama has latitude in the administration's efforts to strain the Russian economy in response to that country's destablization of Ukraine, said Earnest. "But we do have some concerns about that legislation because while it preserves flexibility, it does send a confusing message to our allies, because it includes some sanctions language that does not reflect the consultations that are ongoing," said Earnest. "Typically, the kinds of consultations that we’ve had that have allowed for the successful implementation of the strategy have allowed us to have private conversations with our European allies about our strategies and next steps forward." Earnest said he expects Obama to sign the legislation by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble took a serious hit on Dec. 16, and some analysts say the Russian economy is increasingly weak (here).
President Barack Obama is still reviewing the Russia sanctions legislation lawmakers advanced through the Senate on Dec. 13, said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest in a briefing two days later. House Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, introduced the measure on Dec. 11, and the chamber quickly passed the bill.
On Dec. 10 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Obama administration is mulling over economic, and potentially militaristic, measures against Russia over that country’s recent violations of arms control treaties, two top Obama administration officials said in testimony for a House hearing on Dec. 10. The U.S. continues to accuse Russia of breaking the rules in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty by testing a particular ground-launched cruise missile, but Russia refuses to acknowledge the violation, said Rose Gottemoeller, undersecretary of arms control and international security at the State Department, and Brian McKeon, principal deputy undersecretary for policy at the Defense Department.
On Dec. 9 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
There's a long list of tariff and non-tariff barriers for U.S. telecommunications exports, ranging from redundant Chinese conformity assessments to Indian duties and Hungarian Internet traffic taxes, said industry groups in comments filed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in recent days. USTR asked in November for U.S. industry comments on telecom sections in trade agreements (see 1411110004). The Computer and Communications Industry Association, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), U.S. Council of International Business and two others filed comments to USTR (here). The comments were due Dec. 5 and replies are due Dec. 19.