As the Trump administration pushes for export controls on certain firearms to be transferred from the State Department to the Commerce Department, top Commerce officials said the move should not be a cause for concern and said they are welcoming feedback from the public and members of Congress.

The Commerce Department is reviewing export license applications to sell to Huawei in order to “mitigate as much of the negative impacts of the entity listing as possible” and hopes to have decisions “soon,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, Commerce undersecretary for the industry and security.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 1-5 in case they were missed.

An Office of Foreign Assets Control official said the agency within the Treasury is trying to “expedite” responses on license applications but does not have the resources to lift certain compliance burdens that have caused headaches for U.S. companies, such as regulations that require businesses to determine which companies are owned 50 percent or more by a sanctioned party. “That’s something were trying to work on,” said Susan Demske, OFAC’s assistant director for regulatory affairs.

Iran surpassed the enriched uranium limit that was agreed to as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the country announced July 7, sparking concern from the European Union and threats of additional sanctions by the U.S.

The Census Bureau updated the Automated Export System (AES) with changes to the Schedule B, Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), and HTS Codes that are not valid for AES tables, the agency said in a July 5 email. The changes, which are "effective immediately," reflect the HTS update from July 1. "AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a grace period for 30 days beyond the expiration date of June 30, 2019," the agency said. "Reporting an outdated code after the 30-day grace period will result in a fatal error."

The EU is creating a new, streamlined declaration type for low value imports worth less than €120, it said in a notice published in the July 5 Official Journal. The new customs declaration type contains fewer data elements than standard customs declarations, but still includes information on value-added tax as a result of the upcoming assessment of value-added tax on low-value imports. The new declaration type must be implemented by the time the VAT exemption for low-value gods is eliminated on Jan. 1, 2021, the notice said.

Instex, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, is mostly symbolic, several trade lawyers said. The system is a potentially useful tool to appease Iran’s demands for greater cooperation with Europe, lawyers said, but likely an insignificant mechanism in brokering major trade.

If the Iran nuclear deal collapses and Europe imposes a set of automatic snapback sanctions, the U.S. would likely follow with its own set of additional Iran sanctions, including greater enforcement on non-U.S. entities and sanctions on Iran’s trading partners, said Inessa Owens, a trade lawyer with Baker McKenzie.

The Commerce Department will continue its presumption of denial policy for license applications for exports to Huawei, a Commerce spokesperson said July 3, adding that the China tech company remains on Commerce’s Entity List. Commerce will review export license applications for “their national security impacts” and plans to review licenses “under the highest national security scrutiny,” the spokesperson said.