The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced a $7.1 million penalty against a New York-based property management firm for receiving payments from another company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch and metals industry magnate Oleg Deripaska. OFAC said the New York company, Gracetown, Inc., failed to report the blocked assets to OFAC for 45 months after the agency notified the firm that the payments risked violating U.S. sanctions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has canceled each of its Technical Advisory Committee meetings since the start of October, including the next meeting of its Regulations and Procedures TAC that was scheduled for Dec. 9, according to the agency's website.
The EU released its new economic security doctrine this week (see 2511170007), outlining plans to build on the bloc’s existing trade defense measures and vowing to more aggressively use investment screening, export controls and other tools to protect EU companies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control and Chicago-based private equity firm IPI Partners reached a nearly $11.5 million settlement to resolve accusations that the firm violated sanctions against Russia through its business dealings involving a designated Russian oligarch.
Advanced technology and AI companies largely supported the Commerce Department’s new effort to create a program aimed at increasing U.S. exports of AI technologies and services, with some saying companies should commit to "rigorous" export compliance conditions before being allowed to participate. One company said the U.S. should require businesses to automate their compliance for exports involving certain dual-use AI models, saying manual compliance presents too many “failure points.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security shouldn't expect freight forwarders and logistics providers to carry out the same level of 50% rule due-diligence as exporters, which have much more visibility into the products being shipped and are better positioned to make sure they comply with the new regulations, logistics companies and trade groups told BIS in public comments released this month.
EU ministers and Parliament members this week urged the bloc to respond forcefully to China’s rare earth export restrictions if Beijing doesn’t repeal them or swiftly grant export licenses to European companies. Some also said they’re skeptical Beijing’s one-year suspension for some of its export controls will last.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more resources to address the surge in export license applications that’s expected if its new 50% rule comes back into effect with no changes, industry groups said, adding that otherwise, the agency risks severely delaying or pausing large volumes of trade.
The U.S. launched a new export licensing platform that allows users to track the progress of applications submitted to both the State and Commerce departments, which it said will “simplify export control processes, enhance compliance, and provide centralized resources for industry users.”
The Trump administration is weighing the pros and cons of lifting export restrictions on shipments of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Nov. 24.