Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who advocated for removing Nicaragua from CAFTA-DR in 2021 while he was a senator (see 2106140023), told a reporter in Costa Rica that the Trump administration has not yet decided how to deal with Nicaragua's participation in the free trade agreement.
The State Department this week urged companies to increase their due diligence efforts for supply chains that involve certain critical minerals from Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying illegal trade in gold, tantalum and other minerals from the African Great Lakes Region “continues to play” a role in financing conflict in the region. In a “statement of concern,” the agency said companies trading in these critical minerals may be aiding human rights abuses, including forced labor.
The State Department published its annual list of countries certified to export shrimp to the U.S. without a certification from a government official on State Form DS-2031. The qualified countries have met at least one of two conditions: they have a regulatory program for protection of sea turtles that's comparable to that of the U.S., or the fishing environment of the country poses no risk to sea turtles.