The Bureau of Industry and Security added six Chinese entities to the Entity List because of their ties to China’s “High Altitude Balloons'' reconnaissance activities. The move comes days after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon in U.S. airspace. The aerospace and technology entities require a license for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and BIS will review license applications under a presumption of denial. The additions take effect Feb. 10.
The U.S. is making “good progress” on aligning export controls over sensitive technologies with allies, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said this week, adding that almost all the administration's recent discussions with trading partners have involved China technology issues. She also said the agency is working to counter a growing oil partnership between China and Iran, but said preventing China’s purchases has proven challenging.
Despite the massive sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, the country has seen a 6% increase in capital expenditure, contrasted with initial forecasts of an up to a 20% decline, Bloomberg reported Feb. 8. Russia's response to the sanctions has been to spend its way out, with large and small companies looking to replace foreign equipment and software or funnelling money into building new supply chains to reach new markets. Bloomberg said that while investment has allowed Russia to stave off many of the worst economic effects of the sanctions and export controls, its investment future is much more bleak. Bloomberg Economics predicts that fixed-asset investment will dry up by 5% in 2023. While government and state-owned corporate investment may yet further increase, private sector investment is poised to dip.
The U.K. amended 28 entries under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime and corrected another four, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The amended entities were for 25 individuals and three entities. The entry corrections were for Mohamad Abdurrahman, Iyad Ag Ghali, Mohamed Belkalem and Mohamed Mostafa.
The U.K. added eight individuals and seven entities to its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced.
The EU removed Dmitry Vladimirovich Ovsyannikov, a former governor of Sevastopol, from its Russia sanctions list, according to a European Council decision published Feb. 7. The governor was removed in line with the EU General Court's ruling removing his designation in October. The designation was renewed in September before judgment was rendered.
The EU General Court recently rejected a claim from former Ukrainian Minister of Revenues and Duties Oleksandr Klymenko looking for over $53,000 in reputational damages and over $2.1 million -- plus around $536 a month -- in damages stemming from his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. Klymenko was listed under the EU's Ukraine misappropriation of state funds regime from 2015 to 2021.
Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Chris Coons, D-Del., reintroduced a bill that would give the president the authority to lower duties on non-import-sensitive goods made by a country that lost exports due to coercive actions, and increase duties on imports from the "foreign adversary" committing economic coercion. It would also give the administration the ability to waive some export financing requirements and expedite regulations to facilitate trade with the coerced parties.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated two MS-13 leaders in Central America for actions related to drug trafficking and contract killing, according to a Feb. 8 news release.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a new Russia-related frequently asked question providing guidance on Russian securities transferring through inheritance. FAQ 1113 explains that investment prohibitions under executive orders 14066, 14068 and 14071 don't prevent securities issued by non-blocked Russian entities from transferring to their beneficiaries as long as those transfers are "part of the ordinary course administration of the decedent’s estate," don't "involve an exchange for value," and "have no other sanctions nexus." Blocked securities in an estate, however, remain blocked and require a specific license from OFAC to transfer.