Indian companies are growing increasingly frustrated with restrictive Chinese market access, leading to a more competitive relationship between India and China and a closer Indian alignment with U.S. policies toward China, a trade expert said. However, although India shares U.S. concerns over China, it disagrees with the U.S.’s approach, preferring to engage with countries such as China and Russia diplomatically rather than impose sanctions on them, the expert said.

Turkey’s Ministry of Trade recently announced new customs guidelines about the agency’s procedures for “individual transactions” and “commercial transactions,” according to a Nov. 22 post on the Baker McKenzie International Trade Compliance Blog. The section on individual transactions provides “basic information” on procedures and exemptions, including those for vehicles imported without returns, temporarily imported vehicles, goods delivered through mail, special vehicles for “disabled persons,” household goods, cash and jewelry, the post said. The commercial transactions detail procedures and information on customs rules, operations, taxation and temporary storage of goods. The guidance is an attempt to “increase the efficiency and ease of customs operations,” Baker McKenzie said, and contains “simple and comprehensive instructions.”

The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 25 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people and five entities related to financial, procurement and recruitment networks for ISIS, Treasury said in a Nov. 18 press release. The people and entities are located in Turkey and Afghanistan. The sanctioned parties include Sahloul Money Exchange Company, Al-Sultan Money Transfer Company, Tawasul Company, Ismail Bayaltun, Ahmet Bayaltun, ACL Ithalat Ihracat, Nejaat Social Welfare Organization, Sayed Habib Ahmad Khan and Rohullah Wakil.

An Iranian businessman was sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegally exporting carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said Nov. 14. Behzad Pourghannad worked with two others between 2008 and 2013 to export the carbon fiber to Iran from third countries using falsified documents and front companies, the agency said.

China’s decision to lift import restrictions on U.S. poultry is expected to pave the way for more than $1 billion in U.S. poultry exports to China each year, the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Nov. 14. China’s customs agency and Ministry of Agriculture announced on Nov. 14 the country would be lifting the restrictions, according to a report from China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, allowing imports of U.S. poultry products for the first time since the ban began in 2015.

President Donald Trump, in a press conference with the president of Turkey on Nov. 13, said trade with Turkey “could be many times larger" than it is now, and that his administration has the goal of roughly quadrupling the volume of trade between the two countries, which would be $100 billion in two-way trade. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. goods exported to Turkey were valued at $10.2 billion, while goods imported totaled $10.3 billion.

The Council of the European Union adopted a framework for sanctions against Turkey for its illegal drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, the council said in a Nov. 11 press release. The sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes for people and entities responsible for the drilling in the territorial sea near Cyprus or who provide “technical or material” support for the drilling activities. The sanctions may also apply to “persons or entities associated” with the sanctioned people or entities. The EU Council recommended sanctions against Turkey in October after Cyprus released a statement condemning Turkey’s drilling (see 1910150024).

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 4-8 in case they were missed.

The Bureau of Industry and Security updated its Entity List by adding 22 entities, updating one entry and removing three entries, BIS said. The added entities include freight forwarding and logistics companies and a medical instrument supplier.