The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo rejecting the Chevron principle of deferring to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes doesn't call for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to revisit a decision sustaining the sanctions designation of former Afghan government official Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, Hafi Ajmal Rahmani, the U.S. said this week (Mir Rahman Rahmani v. Janet Yellen, D.D.C. # 24-00285).
The World Trade Organization on July 26 published a joint statement initiative on e-commerce -- the first "stabilised text" released following five years of negotiations on an e-commerce deal. The deal's eight sections cover general scope, e-commerce, "openness," trust, transparency, telecommunications, exceptions and institutional arrangements.
The EU made its first transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine, making available over $1.6 billion, the European Commission announced. The funds are made up of sanctioned Russian Central Bank assets, 90% of which will head to the European Peace Facility and 10% to the Ukraine Facility, which will support Ukrainian defense and reconstruction efforts. The next wave of assets to be sent to Ukraine will take place in March, the commission said.
A U.S. District Court in Kentucky on July 24 said that the U.S. statute barring the smuggling of goods from the U.S. covers only material items and doesn't extend to emails. U.S. District Judge for Western Kentucky David Hale dismissed a charge against defense contractor Quadrant Magnetics, along with several of its employees, which said the parties smuggled goods from the U.S. by "emailing magnet schematics to Chinese manufacturers."
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body agreed on July 26 to establish two dispute panels, at the request of South Africa, to review EU restrictions on South African citrus fruit. South Africa submitted its second request for two panels in spats on the EU restrictions, which were imposed to control the spread of the insect known as the "False Codling Moth" and fungus known as "citrus black spot."
The EU on July 26 requested dispute settlement consultations at the World Trade Organization on Taiwan's use of local content criteria for offshore wind energy projects, the European Commission announced.
The Council of the EU on July 26 sanctioned nine people and one entity for committing human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A majority of companies and business groups that answered survey questions from the European Commission this year said they were in favor of new EU measures to monitor outbound investments in a narrow set of advanced technologies. But they also cautioned the bloc against placing too heavy a compliance obligation on European companies, with some arguing the reporting should be voluntary.
DOJ reached a deal with the former general counsel of 1Malaysia Development Berhad, "Jasmine" Loo Ai Swan, to recover artwork by Pablo Picasso and a Switzerland-based financial account linked to funds allegedly taken as part of the 1MDB scheme, DOJ announced. The agency also obtained forfeiture orders on assets bought with proceeds from the scheme by Low Take Jho, also known as Jho Low, including diamond jewelry and artwork from Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, the agency said.
An Iranian national was extradited to the U.S. from the U.K. on charges related to his alleged role in a scheme to evade U.S. export controls by shipping electronic testing technology to Iran, DOJ announced. Saeid Haji Agha Mousaei made his initial appearance in an Illinois U.S. District Court on July 22, where he faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., smuggling goods from the U.S., wire fraud and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.