Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and member Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, introduced a bill Feb. 3 that would sanction foreign entities that facilitate illegal immigration into the U.S., including human smuggling networks and financial institutions that enable their operations.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., has urged newly installed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to follow through on his pledge to increase sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.
The Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze will hamstring efforts by international organizations such as Conflict Armament Research (CAR) to detect sales of American technology to foreign "adversaries," including Iran, North Korea and Russia, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Feb. 4.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 4 signed a memorandum that would restore the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran he instituted during his first administration, including possibly through new sanctions.
The Trump administration should build on a January move by President Joe Biden that was designed to ease how the government authorizes transfers of missile technology-related exports to close allies, said Sean Wilson, a non-resident aerospace policy researcher with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian officials Feb. 2 that President Donald Trump has made a preliminary determination that China’s influence and control over the Panama Canal area threatens the waterway and violates the 1977 agreement that transferred U.S. control of the canal to Panama, according to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
The EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement entered into force following Chile's ratification of the deal, the European Commission announced last week. It said the deal will boost bilateral trade and investment between the two partners by eliminating tariffs on 99.9% of EU exports, ensuring "more effective and sustainable flow of raw materials," and including an "Energy and Raw Materials chapter" that will give the EU access to "critical raw materials such as lithium, copper as well as clean fuel like hydrogen." The agreement will be supplemented by "ongoing initiatives," such as the "development of critical raw materials value chains for lithium and copper, and the Production of Green Hydrogen in Chile," the commission said.
Japan has launched a “consultation hotline” for Japanese companies located in Canada, Mexico and China that may be affected by new U.S. tariffs announced by the Trump administration (see 2502030016), Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Feb. 2. The hotline will provide “thorough support to Japanese companies affected,” according to an unofficial translation, including individual consultations from “experts specializing in North America and other areas.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, reintroduced a bill Jan. 31 that would direct the State Department to designate four Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.