The U.K.'s Export Control Joint Unit on Aug. 11 issued a new general license under its Russia sanctions regime permitting the provision of certain legal advice and services. The license authorizes legal advisory services to any person or entity related to whether an "act or a proposed act complies with" sanctions, export and import controls on Russia. Parties may now provide legal advisory services surrounding the risk of "punitive measures" concerning sanctions on Russia, any Russian laws that "have as their object or effect the frustration of any laws specified [in any restrictive measures] including sanctions, export and import controls or other restrictive measures imposed by Russia"; or "any criminal law imposed by any jurisdiction."
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked the Kyrgyz Republic to “swiftly” investigate allegations that the country’s government has helped Russia evade international sanctions. In an Aug 8 letter to President Sadyr Japarov, Menendez said Kyrgyzstan has “dramatically expanded its import-export business with Russia” since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, and said Kyrgyzstan’s “lack of enforcement or worse -- complicit facilitation of trade with Russia in products that implicate sanctions, such as drones, aircraft parts, weapon accessories, and circuitry -- is reportedly enabling Russia to evade international sanctions.”
Congress needs to enact stronger export controls legislation to complement the Biden administration’s outbound investment restrictions against China unveiled last week (see 2308090066 and 2308100045), said House Foreign Affairs Indo-Pacific Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif. Kim said she’s “glad” the administration is “acting to restrict U.S. investment of critical technologies developed in China,” and she said the measure “should not be treated as a silver bullet.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued a new set of Russia sanctions, designating four members of Russia’s “financial elite” and a Russian business association. The sanctions target Petr Olegovich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev, along with the Russian Association of Employers the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), a Russian technology industry organization.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week expanded the scope of its nuclear-related export controls on China and Macau, saying the change was necessary to impose tighter license requirements on items that could “contribute to nuclear activities of concern.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also suspended a general license that had authorized exports of certain nuclear items for nuclear end uses in China.
Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, on her first trip to Washington, put USMCA first in her list of priorities, saying that in the less than 14 months left in the administration she is part of, she wants "to be able to bring certainty" in the NAFTA replacement, and to engage across all three countries in various sectors. "It's very important to consolidate this very important economic framework, and to make sure even if we are leaving in 13 months that this can remain as a powerful ... mechanism of trade and investment and economic development and partnership," she said at the Atlantic Council Aug. 10.
China this week criticized the recent U.S. restrictions on outbound investment in three advanced technology sectors in China (see 2308090066).
After the administration reported on its strategy to disrupt narcotics trafficking linked to the Syrian regime, including its sanctions against Samer Kamal al-Assad and Khalid Qaddour, a key drug producer and facilitator, respectively, of captagon production in Syria, two members of the House of Representatives introduced a bill directing the administration to impose sanctions on more Syrian players in the production and sale of the amphetamine-like stimulant.
Citing a Financial Times report that Chinese artificial intelligence developers are evading controls on advanced semiconductors by using cloud services, members of the House introduced a bill to stop those practices, called Closing Loopholes for the Overseas Use and Development of Artificial Intelligence (CLOUD AI). The bill was introduced last month, and its text published this week.
The Census Bureau Aug. 10 launched a new response code in the Automated Export System to alert filers who try to submit a shipment controlled under U.S. Munitions List Category XXI without a valid determination number. The response code, 5C2, will serve as an “informational” error message for at least 90 days, then become a “fatal” error, according to an Aug. 10 CBP CSMS message, and AES will reject the filing.