A bill that could move U.S. export control authority from the Commerce Department to the Defense Department reflects a lack of understanding of the export control licensing process and raises a number of questions about the future of U.S. export control regulations, Braumiller Consulting Group said in a recent post. Congress may want to devote more effort to holding Commerce and the Bureau of Industry and Security “accountable” under the Export Control Reform Act “rather than attempting to fix something that is working fine,” said the post, written by Craig McClure, a senior trade adviser with the firm.
New general licenses issued this week by the Treasury Department may be misused to fund terrorist efforts and human rights violations, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said. Although the licenses are designed to allow Treasury to better authorize humanitarian aid to sanctioned countries (see 2212200035), McCaul said they could help companies and banks inadvertently send money and aid to the wrong people.
The Biden administration must do more to convince U.S. companies and banks to wind down business in China and Hong Kong, including through more outreach and potentially more sanctions, the top two lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a Dec. 19 letter to the White House and Treasury Department. Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said that while they welcomed the March 2021 sanctions against 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials for interfering in Hong Kong’s autonomy (see 2103170027), “we believe these actions have not gone far enough. More needs to be done to ensure that the [People’s Republic of China] understands the consequences of usurping democracy and sovereignty.”
Congress this week passed a bill that would impose sanctions on people and entities involved in stealing U.S. trade secrets and intellectual property. The bill, passed by the Senate Dec. 20 and by the House Dec. 22, would require the president to compile a report of “foreign individuals and entities that have knowingly engaged in, benefited from, or assisted in the significant theft of U.S. trade secrets that materially contributed to a significant threat to U.S. national security, foreign policy, or economic health,” including senior executives “of any foreign entity engaging in such theft.” The sanctions could include “property- or export-blocking sanctions, including denial of certain financial assistance, on entities named in the report.”
The State Department designated 10 Russian entities this week, adding them to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals List. Six of the designated entities develop and manufacture technologies used by the Russian navy, including batteries, navigation equipment, automated control systems, combat information systems and other ship machinery. The remaining four entities operate in the "marine sector" of the Russian economy and develop technologies used in research vessels, aircraft, underwater and space vehicles, as well as manufacturing and related services.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 20 completed an interagency review that could implement certain export control decisions agreed to at the multilateral Australia Group and place new controls on certain marine toxins, plant pathogens and biological equipment (see 2212090004). BIS sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Dec. 7 after previously sending it to OIRA Sept. 9, where it was completed with some changes (see 2209120002). The rule, if published, could finalize May-proposed controls on four dual-use biological toxins that BIS said can be weaponized to kill people or animals.
Several U.S. technology companies recently disclosed their ongoing efforts to comply with new export restrictions against China (see 2210070049), with some determining the regulations will have little effect and others saying the uncertainty is leading to business interruptions.
The U.K. on Dec. 20 added a "new licensing ground related to medical goods" to the licensing grounds for exports of Russia's vulnerable goods, the Export Control Joint Unit announced. Under the Russian sanctions regime, interested parties must now apply for a license with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to export medical goods to Russia.
Russia and Iran are building a new trade route that runs from the eastern edge of Europe to the Indian Ocean, a path insulated from foreign intervention, Bloomberg reported Dec. 21. Using ship-tracking data, Bloomberg found that "dozens of Russian and Iranian vessels" are already trading in the route with tens of billions of dollars being invested to boost trading volumes. The goal is to circumvent sanctions by "creating trade networks protected from interdiction."
A new Senate bill could condition the removal of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela based on a “standards-based transition to democratic order.” The bill, introduced by Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would maintain “current sanctions” on Venezuela “until there is a transition to democracy” and would require the U.S. to assess whether President Nicolas Maduro's regime should be designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization or a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The bill also “reaffirms” that U.S. aid to Venezuela shouldn’t be restricted “except if there is a risk such aid could be used to torture or in activities related to illicit narcotics and mining.”