The U.S. needs to boost its manufacturing capabilities, invest in innovation and improve its ability to export goods around the world, the President-elect Joe Biden’s two top Commerce Department nominees said. The nominees, Gina Raimondo as Commerce secretary and Don Graves as Commerce deputy secretary, were announced Jan. 8 by Biden, who urged the Senate to swiftly confirm their nominations.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to serve as secretary of the Commerce Department, multiple outlets reported Jan. 7. Raimondo, governor since 2015, is viewed as a moderate Democrat and has an extensive background in the financial sector, including co-founding a venture capital firm, according to The New York Times. Raimondo will take over an agency that is in the process of pursuing export controls over a range of emerging and foundational technologies (see 2011250054 and 2009170040), and that frequently has been used by the Trump administration to blacklist Chinese state-owned entities (see 2012180039). A spokesperson for the Biden transition team didn’t comment.
The State Department officially added Cuba’s Banco Financiero Internacional to its Cuba Restricted List, a Jan. 8 notice said. The addition blocks direct financial transactions with the bank under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, and subjects certain U.S. export applications for items to be used by the bank to a denial policy. The change takes effect Jan. 8.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 6 issued a frequently asked question to provide guidance on President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban U.S. investment in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026). OFAC said market intermediaries and others may “engage in ancillary or intermediary activities that are necessary to effect divestiture during the relevant wind-down periods” with publicly traded securities of Chinese military companies. The agency clarified that transactions by U.S. people and investors involving investment funds “seeking to divest during the relevant wind-down periods to ensure compliance” with Trump’s order are allowed.
The European Commission on Jan. 7 updated a document authorizing certain dual-use export control authorities to European Union member states. The document lists national authorities “empowered in the member states” that can grant export licenses, block the transit of “non-community dual-use items” and grant authorizations for “the provision of brokering services.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Jan. 5 to ban certain transactions with Chinese apps Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay and WPS Office. The restrictions, effective 45 days after the order was issued, will block transactions between any person or company subject to U.S. jurisdiction with people or companies that “develop or control” the apps. It also directs the Commerce Department to recommend measures to prevent exports of U.S. user data to “foreign adversaries” and to establish a licensing regime for those data exports.
The U.S. seized $7 million in Iranian funds related to a “complex international conspiracy” to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said Jan. 5. The conspiracy involved the transfer of about $1 billion worth of Iranian funds to accounts around the world, the agency said. The money was intended to finance terrorism, it said.
A Microsoft subsidiary said it received a U.S. sanctions license to provide its services to software developers in Iran. GitHub, which provides hosting for software development, said it was able to convince the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls that use of GitHub “advances human progress,” international communication and improves free speech, the company said Jan. 5. GitHub called the two-year process with OFAC “lengthy and intensive” and said it is “in the process” of rolling back “all restrictions on developers in Iran, and reinstating full access to affected accounts.” The company said it is also working to secure similar licenses for developers in Crimea and Syria. OFAC didn’t comment.
The European Union will consider more sanctions against Venezuela if Nicolas Maduro's regime does not soon begin a “transition process” to cede power, the European Council said in a Jan. 6 news release. The council called Venezuela’s December elections undemocratic and said the country “urgently” needs a political solution. “The lack of political pluralism and the way the elections were planned and executed, including the disqualification of opposition leaders, do not allow the EU to recognise this electoral process as credible, inclusive or transparent,” the council said. “The EU stands ready to support such a process. It also stands ready to take additional targeted measures.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control Jan. 6 issued two new frequently asked questions related to President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban U.S. investment in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026). In FAQ 863, OFAC said U.S. people can “custody, offer for sale, serve as a transfer agent and trade” in securities covered by the order “to the extent that such support services are not provided to U.S. persons in connection” with certain “prohibited transactions.” Those transactions include “clearing, execution, settlement, custody, transfer agency, back-end services, as well as other such support services,” OFAC said.