The U.S. will not sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey because of the country’s recent purchase of Russian defense items, including S-400 missile parts, President Donald Trump said during a July 16 Cabinet meeting. But Trump did not say whether the U.S. would impose sanctions on Turkey, adding that he has a “good relationship” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and that Turkey was placed in a “very tough situation.” Trump said the U.S. is “speaking to Turkey.” “With all of that being said, we’re working through it,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens."
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Bah Ag Moussa for acting on behalf of a West African terrorist group and its leader, Treasury said in a July 16 press release. OFAC designated Moussa as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for working with the group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which was so designated in 2018, Treasury said.
The European Union threatened more sanctions on Venezuela if no “concrete results” are reached during the upcoming negotiations scheduled between Venezuelan leader Juan Guaido and opposition-party leader Nicolas Maduro, the EU Council said in a July 16 press release. The council said it welcomes the negotiations, which are being brokered by Norway, and said the two sides must reach a “genuine engagement” that results in “internationally monitored elections.” If not, “the EU will further expand its targeted measures,” the council said.
The European Union Council renewed sanctions against North Korea, including asset freezes on entities and people who contribute to the country’s ballistic missile programs and sanctions evasions, the council said in a July 15 press release. The council said its sanctions against North Korea are the toughest against any country and will be lifted if there is a “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.” The sanctions regime targets 57 people and nine entities.
The European Union is looking at options for potential Turkey sanctions “in light of Turkey’s continued drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean,” the European Council said in a July 15 press release. The council directed the European Commission to “continue work on options for targeted measures” directed at Turkey. The announcement stems from Turkey’s “illegal” drilling west and northeast of Cyprus despite the EU’s “repeated calls” to stop, the council said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 8-12 in case they were missed.
Global export controls and international sanctions are not stopping luxury goods from entering North Korea, which is employing a significantly larger smuggling scheme than previously known, according to a July 16 report from the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS), a nonprofit research organization in Washington. The 56-page report details how North Korea works with intermediaries, freight forwarders, private financiers and others to smuggle luxury goods into the country. The report also places North Korea’s smuggling system into context: Between 2015 and 2017, at least 90 countries “served as luxury goods procurement sources” for North Korea, the report said.
The European Union General Court annulled an act that sanctioned seven Ukrainians, including the country’s former president and other government officials, according to a July 15 post on the EU Sanctions blog. The court removed sanctions from former Ukrainian president Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, former minister of revenue and duties Oleksandr Klymenko, former prime minister Sergej Arbuzov, former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka and his son Artem Pshonka, and the former head of the president’s administration Andriy Klyuyev. All annulments were announced July 11.
The dispute between Japan and South Korea over Japan’s export restrictions on advanced technology materials will be raised at the World Trade Organization, according to a July 15 report from The Korea Herald. The report cited a statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which said the issue has been named as a formal agenda item of the July 23-24 WTO General Council. The move came at the request of South Korea, the report said. The announcement follows Japan’s decision to restrict exports and licensing policies of certain “controlled items” and technologies to South Korea (see 1907010020).
Commerce denied export privileges for two Iranian nationals and their company after they tried to export a $15,000 micro drill press from the U.S. to Iran, Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a July 8 denied export order. Commerce also fined them $300,000 for trying to violate the Export Administration Regulations and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.