The EU General Court last week upheld the sanctions listing of Marina Mordashova, who was sanctioned in 2022 for her association with her husband, Alexey Mordashov, chairman of investment firm Severgroup. The court rejected Mordashova's argument that she shouldn't be subject to sanctions because she was no longer married to Mordashov, according to an unofficial translation of the court's decision.
The U.S., Australia and the U.K. are exploring ways to incorporate Japan, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea into defense trade collaboration that was initially begun under the AUKUS partnership, they said in a joint statement this week.
The U.S. recently unsealed a pair of indictments, one against Russian national Denis Postovoy and the other against Chinese national Song Wu, for national security-related offenses. Postovoy is accused of conspiring to commit export control violations by shipping microelectronic components with military applications from the U.S. to Russia, while Song is charged with fraud and identity theft related to efforts to obtain confidential or proprietary software from government agencies, research universities and private companies.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., urged European officials this week to increase sanctions on Iran for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, Politico reported.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., reiterated his call Sept. 17 for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to schedule Senate floor consideration of the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the Senate Armed Services Committee marked up in June (see 2407300041). Senators have filed hundreds of potential amendments to the NDAA, including measures to improve export control management and restrict foreign investment (see 2407180045). Republicans accuse Democrats of delaying the NDAA to prevent controversial social issues from coming up before the November elections.
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The EU could soon see a sharp uptick in its use of defensive trade policy tools, especially if Donald Trump is elected the next U.S. president and follows through with his promise of a new global tariff (see 2409110015), at least one panelist said during a roundtable discussion on EU competitiveness.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen chose Maros Sefcovic as the bloc’s commissioner for trade and economic security, saying in a Sept. 17 mission letter that Sefcovic should help the EU take a “more assertive stance” on the use of sanctions and other economic statecraft tools, work to modernize the EU’s customs system, and push to finalize free trade deals.
Australia announced new sanctions this week against five senior Iranian security and law enforcement officials involved in the “violent repression” of protests in Iran, Australia’s foreign affairs ministry said. The designations mark the second anniversary of the arrest and subsequent death of Mahsa Jina Amini, who was accused of not correctly wearing a hijab. Australia said it has now sanctioned 195 Iran-linked people and entities, including almost 100 linked to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
President Joe Biden formally directed his administration last week to implement several new sanctions-related laws, including one aimed at Iranian oil exports.