Do you remember when President Obama “lifted” the Cuba sanctions? It seems like only yesterday. Problem is, it never actually happened. Recently, Airbnb learned this lesson the hard way. Keep reading for all the details, including assassination plots, secret Vatican meetings and a brief history of “the most comprehensive U.S. economic sanctions regime against any country in the world.”
The European Union (EU) has been busy at the end of 2021 and into early 2022 in the area of export controls. New laws, interpretations, etc. have occurred. Here are some highlights.
Every January, the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) and Schedule B are modified, but this year is different. On January 1, 2022, the 7th edition of the HTS was “released.” It is still marked as ‘preliminary’ with the changes being effective at the end of January.
On December 9th, the US government added Cambodia to the naughty list by implementing stricter controls amid the country’s continued human rights abuses, growing corruption, and the deepening of Chinese military influence there. Both the Department of State and the Department of Commerce published new rules which place significantly stricter restrictions on Cambodia.
Last month, a small Israeli company named NSO Group found itself in the crosshairs of Apple, Inc. What’s at stake is an interesting story that extends into the world of privacy, international espionage and export controls.
On November 21, 2021, DDTC published seventeen new FAQs concerning a variety of compliance topics, more specifically on debarment, export controls and voluntary disclosures. While the FAQs are an effort to clarify previously provided information, DDTC attempts to make clearer the rationale behind the requirements for disclosures and debarment.
Valuation is a common issue many importers face. All merchandise imported into the U.S. is subject to appraisement. The preferred method of appraisement is the transaction value and there are four critical areas that can affect the transaction value. Taking care to check for these areas of concern will help keep you safe from hefty fines and penalties.
The government plans to control exports of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in the interest of national security. Should they? How? And where do you draw the line between a human being and controlled technology?
Importers Be Aware – if you are importing products that could be caught up in an Antidumping and Countervailing Duties order then you need to be aware of the major changes to these regulations, which were issued by the Department of Commerce recently. The intent of the updated regulation is designed to help enforce import tariff evasion and Customs and Border Protection identification of importer circumvention of the defined additional U.S. tariffs.
What’s scarier than Halloween Kills? What might send shivers down your spine faster than a ghoulish costume? If your answer wasn’t “submitting a license”, then we might have something to learn from you! But if the idea of submitting an export license feels scary, then we might have a solution.