U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at all U.S. ports of entry will detain work gloves manufactured by Shanghai Select Safety Products Company, Limited and its two subsidiaries.. CBP issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) against Shanghai Select Safety Products Company, Limited and its two subsidiaries Nantong and HK, based on information that reasonably indicates the use of convict labor in violation of 19 U.S.C. § 1307 in the production of that merchandise.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action against Hamas, targeting Gaza- and Lebanon-based leaders of the terrorist group’s offensive cyber and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations. Concurrent with this action, the European Union is imposing sanctions targeting Hamas. 

Friday the Council of the European Union adopted a law covering EU-wide minimum rules for the prosecution of violation or circumvention of EU sanctions in member states. Certain actions will now be considered criminal offences in all member states, for example helping to bypass a travel ban, trading in sanctioned goods or performing prohibited financial activities. Inciting, aiding and abetting these offences can also be penalised. 

Dronemaker General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems, have been sanctioned by the Chinese government for their sales to the government of Taiwan.    Last September China sanctioned Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin  on the same grounds. Missing from either announcement was Boeing, Taipei’s supplier of Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Airline industry and labor groups are calling for restrictions on Chinese Airline flights to the US, citing unfair competition. The groups have asked for a "pause" to additional passenger flights between the United States and China "until U.S. workers and businesses are guaranteed equality of access in the marketplace, free from the existing harmful anti-competitive policies of the Chinese government. "

Wednesday Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), introduced bipartisan legislation to bolster the Export Enforcement Coordination Center—an interagency hub for information sharing and coordination among the key agencies responsible for export control enforcement. At a hearing Thursday, officials from Commerce, Justice and Homeland Security were unanimous in their call for resources from Congress.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Department of Commerce is announcing its recruitment of candidates to serve on one of its six Technical Advisory Committees (“TACs”). TAC …

The Treasury Department, as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to "enhance certain CFIUS procedures and sharpen its penalty and enforcement authorities." The proposed rule reflects CFIUS’s first substantive update to the mitigation and enforcement provisions of the CFIUS regulations since the enactment and implementation of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, which amended CFIUS’s governing statute (section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950).

The EXIM Board of Directors of the United States (EXIM) last week approved a $156.6 million loan to Ukrainian Railways to support the potential acquisition of 40 Wabtec diesel locomotives.   This transaction is the first project fully financed by a United States government agency in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in 2022.

The United States announced two resolutions of labor disputes initiated under the USMCA facility-specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) in Mexico last year.   The Turkish owners of the Teklas Automotive hose assembly plant and the Mexican owners of the Draxton automotive casting operations, both in central Mexico,   conducted remediation satisfactory to US officials. USTR has directed the Secretary of the Treasury to resume liquidation of unliquidated entries of goods from the facilities.

As part of the United States and European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Ministerial meeting, Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative, and Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President and Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission led the principals’ meeting of the U.S.-EU tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD) on April 4.

Two Russian nationals pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) in connection with a scheme to acquire and unlawfully export controlled aviation technology to Russian end users. Beginning in or about May 2022 through May 2023, the defendants conspired to obtain orders for various aircraft parts and components from Russian buyers – primarily commercial airline companies – and then fulfill those requests by acquiring the parts from the United States suppliers.

The U.S. and UK Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see them work together to develop tests for the most advanced AI models, following through on commitments made at the AI Safety Summit last November.   Signed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, the partnership will see both countries working to align their scientific approaches and working closely to accelerate and rapidly iterate robust suites of evaluations for AI models, systems, and agents.

The Treasury Department announced it is targeting a network facilitating shipments valued in the hundreds of millions for the Iranian military. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced additional action against Iranian military revenue generation, targeting Oceanlink Maritime DMCC for facilitating the shipment of Iranian commodities on behalf of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

The leaders of the House Select Committee on China are warning that a Chinese military company, BGI, is attempting to set up a new firm, Innomics, in Massachusetts and Kentucky, to avoid US regulatory scrutiny. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) and ranking Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill) urged the Pentagon to label Chinese companies that aid the Chinese Communist Party in military biotech research as “Chinese Military Companies.”

The EU, the US, and other Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) partners, joined by Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, announced the launch of the Minerals Security Partnership Forum – or “MSP Forum”. The forum will serve as a new platform for cooperation in the area of critical raw materials (CRMs) vital for the global green and digital transitions.

The EU and the United States held the sixth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Leuven, Belgium.  Building on prior gatherings, the ministerial continued to polish areas of common interest, while softpedaling longstanding areas of disagreement. Responding to a question about the effectiveness of the TTC, Ms. Raimondo pushed back: “Look at where the US and the EU were three years ago with respect to our collaboration on issues of technology and trade. It's it's nearly night and day."

Commerce's BIS extended the Temporary Denial Order for Russian air cargo operator Aviastar-TU initially imposed in April 2022. Aviastar has continued to engage in conduct prohibited by the TDO and Regulations, including, but not limited to, on flights into and out of Russia from/to Hangzhou, China as well as domestically within Russia. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching an enhanced strategy to combat illicit trade and support the American textile industry, with collaborative efforts between U.S. Customs and …

Wednesday, the United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at Minera Tizapa S.A. de C.V., a zinc mine  Zacazonapan, Mexico, are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.  The US has suspended liquidation of tariffs on goods from the facility, a venture of of Industrias Peñoles and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and Dowa Metals & Mining. Zinc concentrates produced at Tizapa are sent to Japan for processing. Earlier in the week the US asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Servicios Industriales González, S.A. de C.V. facility, a major metal fabricatorand supplier for Caterpillar, John Deere and Komatsu are being denied the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.  The United States has suspended liquidation on unliquidated entries of goods from the facility.