The State Department said the top five exporting and importing countries of “pseudoephedrine and ephedrine” have cooperated with the U.S. or taken steps to comply with the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The countries include France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, China, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

In the Feb. 25 - March 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

A Tennessee resident who is an Iranian citizen pleaded guilty to smuggling more than $110,000 worth of goods from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a March 3 news release. Aiden Davidson, manager of New Hampshire-based Golden Gate International, used the company to export $100,000 worth of motors, pumps, valves and other goods to Iran-based Babazedeh Trading Co. from 2016 to 2017, the Justice Department said. In another instance, Davidson helped export $13,000 worth of displacement pumps to Iran. In both cases, shipping documents listed the ultimate consignee as a company in Turkey.

The United Kingdom plans to keep a countervailing duty on imports of rainbow trout from Turkey after it leaves the European Union, according to a Feb. 28 notice from the Department of International Trade. But if the EU terminates this measure before the Brexit transition period ends, the measure will not be transitioned, the notice said.

The European Council sanctioned two Turkish officials for Turkey’s illegal drilling activities (see 2001210021) in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to a Feb. 27 news release. The officials, Mehmet Ferruh Akalin and Ali Coscum Namoglu, head the state-controlled Turkish Petroleum Corporation and are responsible for the illegal “offshore hydrocarbon exploration activities,” the EU said.

The State Department announced sanctions on 13 entities and people based in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, the agency said in a Feb. 25 news release. The sanctions target people and companies that support Iran’s missile program. The State Department said the designations are “two-year discretionary sanctions” and block all U.S. government procurement, government assistance and exports related to the people and companies.

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade updated its list of permitted destinations for several open general export licenses, the DIT said in a Feb. 18 notice. The changes removed Yemen, Lebanon and Turkey as permitted destinations under certain licenses and added a destination for the Italian continental shelf. The DIT also suspended registration for an OGEL for certain military goods and reinstated the ability to register for an OGEL relating to exports “in support of joint strike fighter: F-35 lightning II.”

The State Department announced penalties on foreign entities for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act, the agency said in a notice. The entities transferred items subject to multilateral control lists -- such as the Wassenaar Arrangement -- that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The entities mentioned in the notice include companies based in China, Iraq, Russia and Turkey and are barred from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act. In addition, the State Department will suspend any current export licenses used by the companies; State will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations; and government agencies are barred from entering into procurement contracts with them. The measures took effect Feb. 3.

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Jan. 31 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Congress is examining U.S.-Turkey trade ties -- and the changes to trade policy with Turkey -- more closely, and a recent Congressional Research Service report gives policymakers context for decisions they might make. When Turkey invaded Syria after the U.S. withdrew support for Kurdish forces, there was talk of levying sanctions (see 1910100049, 1910170054 and 1910180060), but since the crisis abated, there was no more discussion of sanctions.