Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during a visit to China to meet with U.S. businesses that produce there and with Vice Premier He Lifeng, said that China and the U.S. disagree on Chinese policy to grow its economy through exports.
The Treasury Department posted new FAQs to its website on recently announced, additional bans on imports of diamonds from Russia (see 2402080081). One FAQ details a ban on imports of diamond jewelry and unsorted diamonds that originate or were exported from Russia that will take effect March 1. Another FAQ includes information on bans of non-industrial diamonds mined or produced in Russia that have been substantially transformed in other countries. That ban takes effect March 1 for diamonds with a weight of one carat or more, and Sept. 1 for smaller diamonds of 0.5 carat or more. A third FAQ details the actions Treasury has taken since 2022 to restrict imports of diamonds from Russia.
The Treasury Department this week renewed a general license that authorizes certain transactions involving imports of fish and other seafood from Russia. New General License 83A, which replaces GL 83, is now valid through 12:01 a.m. EDT, May 31. The license was scheduled to expire Feb. 21.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 18 updated guidance related to an expanded ban on imports of Russian seafood announced in December (see 2312220007). The update to OFAC’s frequently asked question adds several new tariff subheadings to the lists of tariff provisions for pollock and other seafood to which the ban may apply.
A nonprofit is asking the Treasury Department to sanction seven Chinese companies after its reporting revealed their alleged ties to forced labor in China’s seafood industry (see 2310100030). The Outlaw Ocean Project, a Washington-based investigative journalism non-profit, said it submitted a petition to Treasury calling for human rights sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against the seven companies and their affiliates, who are “complicit in serious human rights abuses” against Xinjiang workers.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau seeks comments by Jan. 22 on several information collections related to its regulation of alcoholic beverages, including some specific to imports and exports. The agency seeks input in advance of submission for approval by the Office of Management and Budget of information collections including Form TTB F 5100.11 for removals of distilled spirits, denatured spirits and wines, without payment of tax, for export purposes, as well as of information generally required from importers of alcoholic beverages, among other things.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said no decision has been made yet on whether there will be an executive order limiting outbound investment in China. "It's still something being discussed in the administration and the timing of it is not yet certain," she said on "Face the Nation" from China, before she returned from a diplomatic visit there. "But I wanted to explain to my Chinese counterparts that if we go forward with this executive order, that we will do so in a transparent and narrowly targeted way." She said what's being considered is only for "very narrow high technology areas," and should not significantly impact overall investment in China.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she is “concerned” about China’s new export controls on critical minerals used to produce semiconductors (see 2307060053), saying the U.S. is still assessing the impact but that they “remind us of the importance of building resilient and diversified supply chains.” Speaking during a July 7 roundtable with American businesses in China, Yellen said the administration is working to make sure U.S. companies are competing with China on a “level playing field.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in an April 20 speech, said China's state-driven economic policies have spillover effects. "The actions of China’s government have had dramatic implications for the location of global manufacturing activity," she said at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "And they have harmed workers and firms in the U.S. and around the world."
A recent final rule creating a new labeling standard for the Bolivian liquor Singani conflicts with Bolivia’s own standard for the brandy and creates an artificial cut-off that excludes much Singani from being able to be labeled as such under the standard, the National Association of Beverage Importers said in a Jan. 12 news release.