The Council of the European Union presidency and European Parliament negotiators agreed this week on a set of updated foreign direct investment screening rules (see 2506170024), including a minimum scope of industries that should be subject to investment screening.
A group of Ukrainian nationals on Dec. 10 accused Intel, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Mouser Electronics of not doing enough to ensure the semiconductor parts they make don't end up in Russian or Iranian hands (Shumylo v. Texas Instruments, Tex. # 25-09714).
Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology filed its opening brief in its appeal of its case contesting its designation as a "Chinese military company," arguing that the Pentagon adopted an "absurdly broad reading of" the law, Section 1260H, and that the lower court "adopted a capacious view of the [Defense] Department's listing authority and a cramped view of Hesai's obvious prejudice" (Hesai Technology v. U.S. Dep't of Defense, D.C. Cir. # 25-5256).
EU ministers and the European Parliament agreed this week on a proposal that could end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by the end of 2026 and pipeline gas in fall 2027.
The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament struck a provisional deal on the revised Generalized Scheme of Preferences program, which grants EU trade preferences to developing countries. The provisional deal adds "stronger links to respect for human rights and the environment, and a better monitoring and transparency of the scheme," the council said. New conventions regarding human rights and environmental protections will be added to the program, and the proposal provides for an "urgency procedure for the rapid withdrawal of preferences in case of violations of the principles of these conventions," the council said.
The High Court of Singapore will consider whether an arbitral award can be enforced in Singapore in light of U.S. sanctions on the party slated to receive the award. Earlier this month, Judge Thomas Bathurst declined to first and separately consider whether the enforcement of the award is contrary to Singapore's public policy due to the sanctions, opting instead to consider that question along with the other elements of the arbitral dispute.
The U.S. arrested two U.S. citizens and two Chinese nationals last week after accusing them of using a purported Florida real estate firm, an Alabama distributor and nearly $4 million in wire transfers to buy and illegally export “cutting edge” chips to China.
VFC Solutions, a sanctioned Cypriot investment firm, filed a lawsuit against the Office of Foreign Assets Control for denying its petition to be delisted from the Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), arguing that the agency acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by denying the petition based on "speculation and conjecture."
Two Alabama men have been charged with trafficking over 300 weapons and ammunition into Mexico, DOJ announced. Emilio Ramirez Cortes, a Mexican citizen legally residing in the U.S., and his son Edgar Emilio Ramirez Diaz, are both charged with "smuggling firearms, ammunition, magazines and other firearms accessories as well as trafficking of firearms," DOJ said.
An "upgraded" version of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area entered into force Oct. 28, the European Commission announced. The deal provided updates in three areas: trade flows, production standards and safeguards.