A leading Senate critic of TikTok said March 6 that he has reservations about a new House bill that would ban the popular social media application in the U.S. if China’s ByteDance doesn't divest the platform.
Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on China, introduced a bill March 5 to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless China’s ByteDance divests the social media application.
The European Council and Parliament reached a deal on a new set of rules to ban imports suspected of being made with forced labor, including how the ban will be enforced and how the bloc will investigate and penalize violations.
The U.S. announced a new set of sweeping Russia-related export controls and sanctions last week to mark the two-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and to respond to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's death in prison. The measures include nearly 100 additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, more than 500 sanctions designations by the Treasury and State departments and new government guidance, including a new business advisory to warn companies about Russia-related compliance risks.
Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 14 criticized the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule (see 2401050023), saying it's too complicated and burdensome for small businesses.
EU members last week postponed a vote on new rules that could require companies to conduct specific due diligence on their supply chains to address various environmental and social concerns, including forced labor risks.
The U.K. halted talks on a free trade agreement with Canada, according to a post on the social media platform X by the British High Commissioner to Canada Susannah Goshko. A statement posted by Goshko, attributed to a U.K. spokesperson, said the British government reserves "the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress is not being made." The U.K. said it remains open to resuming talks "in the future to build a stronger trading relationship that benefits businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic."
The European Commission is urging anyone with information on Russia- or Belarus-related sanctions evasion to submit tips under its online EU sanctions whistleblower tool (see 2203080030). The online tool allows whistleblowers to submit reports anonymously, the bloc said in a Jan. 14 post on the social media platform X.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should do a better job informing small businesses about its new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements (see 2401050023), Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said in a Jan. 5 press release.