The U.S. should push World Trade Organization members to "revisit what constitutes good and bad subsidies," which may help encourage transparency and improve "enforcement through incentives for compliance and penalties for noncompliance," the Council on Foreign Relations said in a new report.
The World Trade Organization touted new evidence of how "more inclusive [economic] integration" can benefit the friction points of security interests, inclusiveness and environmental policies in the face of early signs of global trade fragmentation. In its World Trade Report 2023, released Sept. 12, the WTO focuses on globalization and how, despite current challenges, international trade is thriving and stands as a solution to many global issues.
New Hampshire-headquartered NuDay, also known as NuDay Syria, pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to file electronic export information, DOJ announced Sept. 8. From 2018 to 2021, the organization, founded as a nonprofit charity, completed over 100 shipments to Syria but falsely reported the goods would be delivered to Turkey and "artificially deflated" the value of the goods below the $2,500 EEI reporting threshold.
DOJ last week announced its "first-ever criminal resolution" involving a company that violated sanctions by facilitating the sale and transport of Iranian oil. The agency said the cargo -- more than 980,000 barrels of Iranian oil that was allegedly shipped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- is now the subject of a civil forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The forfeiture complaint alleges the oil is "subject to forfeiture based on U.S. terrorism and money laundering statutes," DOJ said Sept. 8.
The EU General Court on Sept. 6 upheld the European Council's sanctions listing of Belarusian businessman Mikail Gutseriev, finding that the European Council correctly interpreted the listing criteria to include nonfinancial types of support for the Belarus regime. Gutseriev, sanctioned in 2021, argued that the listing criteria under the Belarus sanctions regime should include only financial support, given its language saying parties shall be listed due to their "benefit from or support for" the Belarus government.
India imposed additional restrictions on the export of basmati rice in an attempt to stop non-basmati white rice exports being misclassified as basmati rice, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced. After barring the export of non-basmati white rice July 20, the ministry said contracts for basmati exports valued at over $1,200 per metric ton should be registered for an allocation certificate and contracts valued below $1,200 per metric ton may be kept in abeyance and evaluated by a committee for "understanding the variation in prices and use of this route for export of non-Basmati white rice."
Consumer goods conglomerate 3M agreed to pay over $6.5 million to settle charges it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's internal controls provisions, the SEC announced Aug. 25. 3M's China-based subsidiary allegedly arranged for Chinese government employees of state-owned healthcare facilities to travel to international conferences, educational events and healthcare facility visits as part of the subsidiary's "marketing and outreach efforts."
SpaceX illegally discriminated against asylees and refugees in its hiring practices by claiming it could only hire U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents under export control laws, DOJ alleged in a lawsuit filed on Aug. 24. Export control laws "impose no such hiring restrictions," the agency said, adding that the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act in its hiring practices.
The World Trade Organization will hold a public forum on Sept. 12 with the goal of exploring how "digitalization and inclusive trade policies can support" a "greener and more sustainable future," the WTO announced. The event will feature a lecture by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the WTO World Trade Report for 2023, "high-level plenaries," working sessions and networking opportunities. The plenary sessions will focus on "how trade can keep the ambition of the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees alive" and feature the topics of "fostering sustainable development through trade, the decarbonization of the transport sector, inclusive trade policies, and how technology can boost green innovation," the WTO said.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the French government will strengthen controls on foreign investment to include companies involved in the extraction and processing of critical raw materials. Le Maire pointed to export controls imposed on gallium and germanium by China as evidence of the measures' and minerals' importance (see 2308150028).