Thursday, December 17, 2020
On December 2, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an order blocking all imports of cotton and cotton products from Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a Chinese state-owned company operating in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The impact of the order, intended to combat the alleged use of forced labor of ethnic Uighur Muslims, is potentially sweeping as, by some estimates, XPCC produces 7% of the world’s cotton.
This is CBP’s sixth enforcement action in three months targeting goods from China’s Xinjiang region, underscoring not only Washington’s heightened focus on this issue, but also the need for U.S. importers to carefully review (and potentially reassess) their supply chains moving forward.
by Daria Bedenko
Dec. 16, 2020
The Trump administration has been targeting Iran with harsh economic sanctions under a so-called ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, labeling the Islamic republic as “the world’s leading state sponsor of terror”.
The US State Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions of a Vietnam gas and chemicals transportation company for “knowingly engaging […] in a significant transaction for the transport of petroleum products from Iran”, according to a statement.
“Today, the US imposed sanctions on five entities for knowingly engaging in the transport of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products, whose revenue the regime uses to carry out its malign agenda. We will not relent in our pursuit of those who attempt to evade sanctions”, State Secretary Mike Pompeo tweeted, announcing the sanctions.
17 December, 2020 Source: ICIS
The US has blacklisted on Wednesday four companies based in China and the UAE for facilitating exports of Iranian petrochemicals.
Sanctions were imposed on UAE’s Alpha Tech Trading FZE and Petroliance Trading Fze; and China’s Donghai International Ship Management Ltd and Petrochem South East Ltd for facilitating sales of Iranian petrochemicals by Hong Kong-based Triliance Petrochemical, which was blacklisted in January 2020.
“These China- and United Arab Emirates-based companies have provided Triliance with critical shipping services or conducted financial transactions on behalf of the company, enabling Triliance to continue brokering and moving Iranian petrochemical exports,” the US Treasury said in a statement dated 16 December.
MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI), (CCCGF) - MSCI Shows The Door To 7 Chinese Companies In Line With Trump s Executive Order benzinga.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from benzinga.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
What US sanctions can do to generals
December 16, 2020 Written by ROBERT SPIN MUKASA
US lawmakers have focused their recent anger against Uganda and the ruling NRM government’s use of force to slow the march of the coronavirus and in the process restrict freedom of association and expression during the electoral period.
They have written to US Secretary of State Mike R. Pompeo urging the US administration to conjure up a more muscular response to human rights abuses in Uganda and the country’s slide toward authoritarianism.
In an apparent response to that plea, Mike R. Pompeo in a recent tweet, said Uganda was a long-standing partner and Washington expected its partners to hold free and fair elections.