The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Jan. 2 sent a proposed rule for interagency review that could lead to U.S. Munitions List updates. The rule, titled "International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Proposed Omnibus USML Changes," would remove items from the USML that no longer warrant inclusion, add items that do, and clarify certain items described on the USML, the agency said.
The U.S. will continue to impose and enforce its sanctions against Venezuela until the country takes steps to “further the national interest of the United States” and create a better future for the Venezuelan people, Secretary of State Marci Rubio said.
House and Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill Jan. 5 that would provide $235 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $44 million, or 23%, from the FY 2025 enacted level.
China last week released its catalog of dual-use goods that will be subject to both import and export licenses for 2026, according to an unofficial translation of a Ministry of Commerce notice. The list, effective Jan. 1, includes various chemicals that can be used in chemical weapons, items used to make drugs, encryption technology, certain aircraft technology, and more.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on Dec. 18 introduced a companion to a Senate bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on Salvadoran officials for alleged human rights abuses, including imprisoning U.S. residents deported by the Trump administration without due process.
The U.S. sanctioned 229 entities under its transactional criminal organization sanctions authorities in 2025, a sharp uptick from the 10 parties it designated in 2024, risk intelligence firm Kharon said. It said most of the TCO-related designations this year came in October, when the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Cambodia-based Prince Group and more than 100 people and entities with ties to it. OFAC said the group runs online scams and is involved in human trafficking (see 2510140005).
Etasis, a Turkish machinery company, was removed from the Office of Foreign Asset Control's Specially Designated Nationals List earlier this month "following an extensive remediation process and a comprehensive compliance transformation," CBC Law Firm announced on LinkedIn. The Istanbul-based firm said its client strengthened sanctions compliance controls, practices and governance structures, which led to the removal. "This delisting reflects the value of sustained commitment to compliance and transparent engagement with regulators and represents a meaningful development for the adoption of sanction compliance programs for private corporations."
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Dec. 30 released a fact sheet for its recently issued rule that finalized an exemption for defense trade among the AUKUS partners -- the U.S., Australia and the U.K. -- within the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (see 2512290017). The fact sheet covers the "key elements" of the exemption, including who can be authorized users, the items on the Excluded Technology List that can't be used with the exemption, and more. DDTC also noted that its rule codified the requirement for the agency to adjudicate licenses for Australia, the U.K., and Canada within 30-45 days "when the transfer or activity cannot be undertaken under an ITAR exemption," and it authorizes "the reexport and retransfer of classified defense articles to certain dual nationals under certain circumstances."
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A U.S. federal court declined a request from a Cayman Islands energy firm to preemptively block it from being sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, saying the company failed to point to a statute that would give the court this power.