Sanctions and export controls on Russia are having an effect and policymakers should exercise patience and focus on enforcement going forward, experts said during a Jan. 31 discussion at the Atlantic Council. The event was a discussion of the impact of sanctions and export controls on the Russian economy.
The Biden administration recently notified companies it no longer will approve license applications for technology shipments to Huawei, moving toward a “total ban” on U.S. sales to the Chinese telecommunications company, the Financial Times reported this week. The Commerce Department already employs a strict licensing policy for exports to the company, but the report said the administration is looking to take “an even tougher stance on China, particularly in the area of cutting-edge technology.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security's top export enforcement official is in Canada this week to discuss improving U.S.-Canadian enforcement efforts. Matthew Axelrod, BIS assistant secretary for export enforcement, said he’s meeting with the Canada Border Services Agency and the Global Affairs Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police to share information on Russian “diversion actors,” coordinate the “targeting and conduct of pre- and post-shipment verifications and audits,” upgrade efforts to “inspect, detain, and seize illicit shipments,” and work to “reduce threats through coordinated outreach, investigations, and enforcement actions.”
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The Bureau of Industry and Security added seven Iranian entities to the Entity List this week for their involvement in drone transfers to Russia, the agency said in a final rule. The entities are Iranian producers of unmanned aerial vehicles, top BIS export enforcement official, Matthew Axelrod, said during a Toronto conference this week, adding that Russia is using the drones to “attack civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
European countries not in the EU aligned with two recent sanctions decisions made by the bloc. On Dec. 8, the council renewed its existing restrictions pertaining to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for another 12 months. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the European Council said Jan. 30. The same countries also imposed the EU's move to update the list of individuals and entities subject to the Congo restrictions.
James Cartlidge, the U.K.'s exchequer secretary to the Treasury, told Parliament last week about how the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation makes its licensing decisions when sanctioned individuals or entities need to pay for legal fees. Cartlidge said that OFSI scrutinizes the reasonableness of the costs, including hourly rates and disbursements, adding that OFSI finds it inappropriate for the Treasury to decide whether a case should proceed by deciding whether to issue a license permitting legal fees to be paid.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, R-Texas, promised a "thorough review of the policies and procedures" at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security after the state-run China Academy of Engineering Physics reportedly was able to continue purchasing U.S.-made semiconductors since 2020 despite being on a U.S. export ban list since 1997.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated the leader of a Mexico-based network and two associates for procuring precursor chemicals to manufacture and traffic fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to the U.S., according to a Jan. 30 news release.
The Defense Export Controls and Compliance System User Group is looking for people who use the DECCS who would be willing to test new functions and to participate in two user group meetings a year. Volunteers can be company employees, government agency employees or from third-party organizations. They can be from either the U.S. or abroad. They can suggest DECCS enhancements, as well as identify challenges in using it.