The EU has so far been unable to place any meaningful export controls or sanctions against China despite urging from the U.S., leading to competitive disadvantages for American companies, Ivan Kanapathy, a China studies expert, said during a U.S. government commission hearing last week. Other experts at the hearing said much of Europe remains strongly opposed to any economic restrictions that would hurt their businesses and were skeptical that the bloc can stand up an EU-wide outbound investment screening mechanism.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week could lead to new sanctions against “foreign persons” committing human rights violations against “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals.” The bill was introduced June 13 by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and so far has seven co-sponsors. The text wasn’t yet available at deadline.
Lawmakers reintroduced a bipartisan bill in the Senate and House this week that could help the U.S. use sanctioned Russian assets to assist with Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts. The Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act also would block the release of sanctioned Russian funds until Moscow withdraws from Ukraine and agrees to provide compensation for the damage it caused, and it also would give the State Department more resources to coordinate with allies about confiscating Russian assets.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week updated a Russia-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entry is Hong Kong-based Gold Miles Limited, which was sanctioned in May as part of the Biden administration’s rollout of more than 300 new designations targeting supporters of Russia (see 2305190059). Gold Miles was designated for being owned by Irish national John Desmond Hanafin, founder of a company that OFAC said has helped move Russian money into the United Arab Emirates to protect it from Western sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two North Korean nationals involved in procuring equipment and materials for the country’s ballistic missile program. OFAC said Choe Chol Min, based in Beijing, works with North Korean weapons trading officials, Chinese nationals and others to purchase “a range of items” used to produce missiles. His wife, Choe Un Jong, also based in Beijing, is “officially assigned” to the North Korean Embassy in China and helped coordinate an order for dual-use bearings that are used in the missiles.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security last month said it doesn’t have a draft rule in place to increase export licensing requirements for Huawei, exporters would be wise to still expect a tightening of restrictions against the Chinese telecommunications company, industry officials said this week. They also didn’t rule out BIS soon increasing export controls against China in other ways, including by potentially adding more items to the scope of its military end-use and end-user (MEU) rule requirements.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week issued a new license, which took effect June 14 and has no expiration date, that authorizes certain trades in derivatives and futures “in connection with activities” that would otherwise violate the price cap on Russian oil. The license also authorizes certain financial institutions to “process payments in relation” to those trades.
Germany released its first national security strategy this week, emphasizing the importance of export controls and sanctions to protect against human rights abuses. The 76-page document, which dives into a range of security issues, mentions that Germany wants Europe to achieve better “harmonization of arms export controls” and that it supports the “flexible use of EU sanctions.”
The State Department announced debarments against 10 people convicted of violating U.S. export control laws. The debarments, which will be imposed starting June 15, target Maria Guadalupe Almendarez, Murat Bukey (see 2303220054), Kevin Jerome Cassidy, Usama Darwich Hamade (see 2007210014), Andrew Scott Pierson, Ihor Radionov, Joe Sery (see 2206100018), Arif Ugur (see 2212150082), Tian Min Wu (see 2212020039) and Hany Veletanlic (see 2001300016). All 10 are “generally ineligible” to participate in activity controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations for three years following their dates of convictions. At the end of that period, they must apply to be reinstated from their debarment before engaging in ITAR activities.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently revoked export privileges for seven people after they illegally exported or tried to export controlled items, including military equipment, firearms and ammunition.