The U.S. will announce "major" new sanctions against Russia this week, President Joe Biden told reporters Feb. 20 before leaving on a campaign trip. He said his administration will be releasing new sanctions on Russia as part of a package that will be announced Feb. 23.
The countries behind the Russian oil price cap on Feb. 16 released changes to the cap's attestation model in a bid to "strengthen the compliance regime and reduce routes for circumvention," the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The changes require per-voyage attestations and itemized ancillary cost information on request.
Taiwan added 77 items to its list of goods subject to export controls on Russia and Belarus, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The additional export controls take effect March 8 and are imposed to prevent the Russian military from using Taiwan's high-tech products in Ukraine. The items include milling and grinding machines, lathes and turning machines and machining centers.
The House of Representatives voted 389-32 on Feb. 14 to pass a bill that would expand sanctions on Syria's Bashar Assad regime.
The Biden administration is considering “a whole number of options” to respond to the reported death in prison of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, President Joe Biden told reporters on Feb. 16 when asked if he is looking at increasing sanctions on Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 16 issued a new guidance document on U.S. sanctions against Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, to coincide with sanctions taking effect on the Yemeni group that same day pursuant to its formal addition to the Specially Designated Nationals list.
The U.S. should pursue forming a new multilateral regime to coordinate export controls and related policies for critical and emerging technologies (CET) because existing multilateral export control entities are ill-suited for that role, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a new report.
Businesses are relieved by the quasi-truce between China and the U.S., consultants and lawyers said on a trade panel last week, but those in the tech sectors expect more restrictions are coming in the near future.
Industry lawyers and advisers see the Bureau of Industry and Security's revamped voluntary disclosure policies as a positive set of moves that could reduce compliance burdens on exporters and encourage more companies to come forward with tips about their competitors. But at least one former government official said corporations should remain skeptical about the changes until BIS offers more clarity about how it will implement them in practice.
The House of Representatives on Feb. 15 passed a bill that would reverse the Biden administration’s recent pause on pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports. The bill received 224 yea votes -- 215 Republicans and nine Democrats -- and 200 nay votes, all from Democrats. The vote came a day after the administration said it “strongly opposes” the bill (see 2402140005). The legislation faces an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate.