The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 19 issued one new Russia-related general license, updated an existing Russia-related general license and deleted a range of entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List.
China’s announcement this summer that it made progress in its chip technology doesn't necessarily mean there was a failure in U.S. export control policy, said Bill Reinsch, a senior export administration official during the Bill Clinton administration. Reinsch said it’s unclear if China’s new chip even exists and where Beijing received the equipment to produce it.
The State Department on Aug. 17 completed an interagency review for a final rule that will reorganize and consolidate definitions in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 8 (see 2208090017), is part of a broader agency effort to reorganize the ITAR (see 2203220013 and 2205160026). The State Department also recently completed an interagency review for a final rule to make corrections and clarifications to the ITAR (see 2208120010).
The Netherlands extradited an alleged Russia money launderer and cybercriminal to the U.S. to face charges, DOJ said this week. Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov has worked with others to launder the proceeds of ransomware attacks on people and entities in the U.S. and abroad, the agency said. Dubnikov laundered more than $400,000 in ransomware proceeds in July 2019, DOJ said, and faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence. The Treasury Department has issued guidance on the sanctions risks of facilitating ransomware payments (see 2010010018). The FBI has urged the agency to clarify the guidance (see 2207210058), and experts have said better reporting requirements will lead to more efficient sanctions (see 2206070027).
Congress should revise export control laws to ensure “naive bureaucrats” don’t prioritize commercial sales over national security, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said this week. Rubio, referencing a Wall Street Journal report that said the U.S. approved 94% of license applications for technology exports to China in 2020, said the numbers show that “President Biden refuses to take the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party seriously" and that “the situation is growing worse."
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week updated a general license that authorizes certain payments to U.K. insurers by sanctioned people or entities. The license includes several amendments related to terrorism insurance, property owners’ liability insurance and claims preparation costs insurance.
The U.S.’s recently announced export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines (see 2208120038) are a “violation” of international trade rules, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said this week. The controls -- which will impose license restrictions on two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design software and certain pressure gain combustion technology -- “will inevitably hinder international scientific and technological exchanges” and “threaten the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains,” the spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 18 news conference transcript. “The United States continues to generalize the concept of national security and abuses export control measures,” the spokesperson said.
The U.S. and Taiwan this week agreed to soon begin trade talks under a new initiative aimed at increasing trade in goods and removing “discriminatory barriers,” the Office of U.S. Trade Representative said. The negotiations, which USTR said are set to begin “early this fall,” also will include discussions on trade facilitation measures, anti-corruption, agriculture, technology standards, digital trade, labor and non-market policies. The U.S. and Taiwan plan to “pursue an ambitious schedule” for the talks, Deputy USTR Sarah Bianchi said, adding the discussions will result in a “fairer, more prosperous and resilient 21st century economy.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to move forward with its May proposal for new export controls over four dual-use biological toxins (see 2205200017). The agency on Aug. 17 sent a final rule for interagency review that would implement the controls, which would apply to the marine toxins brevetoxin, gonyautoxin, nodularin and palytoxin. BIS said the toxins can be exploited for biological weapons purposes and the controls were proposed in May as unilateral restrictions because the Australia Group hadn't yet agreed to the controls. The agency received two public comments on the controls (see 2207190014).
China this week imposed sanctions against a group of Taiwan officials and lawmakers who have advocated for independence, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 16 notice. The sanctions target people who have tried to “interfere in the process of reunification of” Taiwan with the “motherland,” China said. Among those designated were Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the U.S.; Wellington Koo, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council; and other politicians from Taiwan's in-power Democratic Progressive Party, Reuters reported.