In the June 14 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
Japan’s Center for Information on Security Trade Control (CISTEC) has added Huawei to its Chaser List of sanctioned companies, according to a recent report from Nikkei. The non-profit’s list is not binding, but it is used by Japanese exporters to avoid potential pitfalls, so Huawei’s listing could cause Japanese companies to scale back business with Huawei, the report said. The inclusion was likely automatic after Huawei’s addition to the U.S. Entity List, it said. The Chaser List includes companies sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations, among others.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is amending regulations to adjust for inflation by increasing the maximum amount of civil monetary penalties that the agency may impose for certain violations, OFAC said in a June 13 update on its website and a notice scheduled to be published in the June 14 Federal Register. The change was made “to implement for 2019 the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990,” the notice said. OFAC is increasing the maximum amount of penalties that fall under the Trading with the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and the Clean Diamond Trade Act.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $40,000 settlement with Cubasphere and an unnamed individual for violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, OFAC said in a June 13 enforcement notice.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $325,000 settlement with Expedia Group Inc. for helping more than 2,000 people with “Cuba-related travel services” that OFAC said violated the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, according to a June 13 enforcement notice.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a more than $220,000 settlement with Spain-based Hotelbeds USA for helping more than 700 people with Cuba-related travel services that violated the Cuba Assets Control Regulations, OFAC said in a June 13 enforcement notice.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged President Donald Trump's administration on June 13 not to use U.S. restrictions on Huawei as a “bargaining chip in trade negotiations” with China. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a notice adding Huawei and affiliates to a list of entities subject to export administration regulations beginning May 16 (see 1905160072). BIS issued a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions by Huawei and the affected affiliates through Aug. 19. Trump later said sanctions against Huawei could be part of trade negotiations with China.
The European Union Council is considering upholding sanctions placed on 17 Russians for “undermining or threatening” the sovereignty of Ukraine, the council said in a June 7 notice. The sanctions stem from a 2014 decision by the council. The notice contains a new statement of reasons for upholding the sanctions, which may be obtained by the sanctioned individuals before June 14, the notice said.
The United Kingdom’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a June 12 report rebuking the UK’s current sanctions policy, calling it “fragmented and incoherent.” The report called on the U.K.’s National Security Council “to begin an urgent review” of the country’s sanctions strategy and to report findings to Parliament by the end of 2019.
China appears to be formally laying the groundwork for export restrictions on rare earths, after previously only hinting in state media reports that they could be used to counter U.S. trade restrictions, according to an emailed update from the China-based consultancy Trivium. Citing a report from China's state-run Xinhua news service, Trivium said three Chinese ministries sent out survey teams June 10 to gather input from rare earths producers in several provinces. That follows three recent China National Development and Reform Commission symposiums where experts called for stricter export controls on rare earths, Trivium said. Though the survey was aimed at gathering “suggestions on how to improve protection and value of rare earths,” they also sought input on “further exerting the strategic value of rare earths and other resources,” according to an unofficial translation of the Xinhua report. The surveys signal that “Beijing is no longer hinting that it has the rare earths card at its disposal,” Trivium said. “Authorities have moved forward, and are seriously looking into the details of how exactly to implement export controls,” Trivium said. “Specifically, they are trying to understand how to minimize any negative impact on the domestic industry while maximizing external leverage.”