DOJ is investigating U.S. chip company Applied Materials for potentially violating export controls against China, company executives said last week. Chief Financial Officer Bryce Hill said the company received a subpoena last year and is “fully cooperating” with the government.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added four entities to the Entity List last week after the agency said they illegally supplied U.S. items and parts to Russia or Venezuela. The companies, which have locations in Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Panama, Spain, Russia and Venezuela, either supplied U.S.-origin integrated circuits to Russia’s defense sector or helped the Nicolas Maduro-led regime in Venezuela illegally acquire export-controlled aircraft parts.
The U.K. this week amended Russia- and Iran-related sanctions entries. The changes were to identifying information for Irina Anatolievna Kostenko under its Russia sanctions regime and to the Ya Mahdi Industries Group under Iran.
The U.N. Security Council and the U.K. this week amended various entries under their ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regimes. The changes revise identifying information for people and one company that have ties to terrorism.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued two updated Venezuela-related general licenses, including one that renews the current authorization for certain transactions with the country’s state-owned energy company and another that updated the authorization for certain transactions with the country’s flagship airline.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Nov. 16 sanctioned three United Arab Emirates-based companies and three vessels for violating the price cap on Russian oil (see 2310240068). The designations target Kazan Shipping Inc., Progress Shipping Co. Ltd. and Gallion Navigation Inc., the registered owners, respectively, of three vessels: the Kazan, the Ligovsky Prospect and the NS Century.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 10 people and 18 entities involved in Russia’s “malign influence” and corruption in the Western Balkans, including government officials and organized crime leaders in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The designations, announced by both the Treasury and State departments, also target individuals who “impede critical reforms and progress toward EU accession” of those countries, the State Department said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to release another new set of Russia-related export controls next month, which could include potential additions to the Entity List, said Matthew Borman, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added four entities to the Entity List for either illegally supplying parts to Russia’s defense industrial base or helping Venezuela illegally acquire U.S. aircraft parts. The four companies, some of which have locations in multiple countries, are located in Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Panama, Spain, Russia and Venezuela. Effective Nov. 17, the companies are subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under either a policy of denial or presumption of denial.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week removed a Chinese scientific institute from the Entity List that the agency had originally added in 2020 for ties to human rights abuses in Xinjiang (see 2005220058). The move, outlined in a final rule effective Nov. 16, removed the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute of Forensic Science of China from the list.