American, Australian and British officials were pressed this week about why they haven’t sought to include other close allies -- including Canada, Japan or South Korea -- in an ongoing effort to reduce burdensome U.S. defense export control requirements. Speaking during a summit of government and defense industry representatives from more than 25 countries, the officials said reducing restrictions as part of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership has proven complicated, and the nations aren’t yet ready to expand the group.
The U.S. and the EU in recent months may have had a breakthrough tracking export-controlled goods being illegally diverted through third countries to Russia, senior sanctions officials said this week. They also said the U.S., the EU and other Group of 7 nations are preparing to take new “legal action” against parties transporting Russian oil using shadow fleets in violation of the price cap.
The U.S. government has informed American chip designer Nvidia that several of its products are subject to the new export controls unveiled by the Bureau of Industry and Security last week despite BIS saying the rules wouldn’t take effect until next month.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked the export privileges of a Georgia resident after she admitted to trying to illegally export about $25,000 worth of optical sighting devices from the U.S. to China. As part of a settlement agreement, Dina Zhu of Lawrenceville, Georgia, will be barred from participating in any transaction subject to the Export Administration Regulations for one year from Oct. 20, but she won’t face a fine.
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Denmark has seen a spike in dual-use exports over the past year to countries suspected of being diversion points for export-controlled goods to Russia, including Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia, said Frederik Broch-Lips, head of export controls and sanctions with the Danish Business Authority. The agency hasn’t been able to confirm all of those shipments are being illegally sent to Russian end-users, he said, adding that better sanctions enforcement may be needed across Europe.
Multinational companies with operations in China are becoming increasingly concerned about facing retaliatory measures from Beijing for complying with Western sanctions, said Erika Trujillo, co-founder of SEIA, a compliance risk management firm. She noted that some businesses have begun to split their trade compliance efforts between a Western-focused team and a Chinese team to protect their Chinese employees and operations from potential penalties.
The European Commission last week said it plans to propose new foreign direct investment screening regulations by January, adding that it wants to “make better use of existing tools” to screen investments that may pose national security risks.
The U.S. last week removed sanctions from the son of a convicted war criminal about six months after he, his sister and mother sued the Treasury Department for taking too long to adjudicate their delisting requests.
The Treasury Department issued four new general licenses this week to suspend certain sanctions on Venezuela after the country's government and opposition formally agreed to work together on conditions for the next presidential election. The general licenses authorize certain transactions involving Venezuela's oil, gas and gold sectors and remove a trading ban on certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds and the debt and equity involving Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), the country’s state-owned energy company. Treasury issued new guidance to explain the changes.