Twenty-three House and Senate Republicans urged President Joe Biden to designate Venezuela’s largest criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, a Transnational Criminal Organization, saying the group poses a growing threat to the U.S. as well as to Central and South America.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a bill March 15 that would impose sanctions on foreign persons who contribute to the construction of a tunnel from Russia to Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014.
The U.S. announced more countries signed on to a commitment to place export controls around spyware technology, part of an effort to raise trade guardrails for cyber-related items that can be used for human rights violations. The group, which now includes 17 nations, plans to meet this week to share best practices and exchange policy ideas for how they can better control technologies used for “malicious cyber activity.”
Four senators last week urged President Joe Biden to impose additional sanctions on Nicaragua for that country's crackdown on religious freedom, including the recent arrest of 13 Christian pastors.
If the Senate Commerce Committee takes up a House-passed bill that would ban TikTok if China’s ByteDance does not divest itself of the popular social media application, committee members probably will propose “multiple amendments” to improve the legislation, the panel’s top Republican said last week.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Marshall Islands-registered shipping company Vishnu Inc. and its ship, the Lady Sofia, for their involvement in illegally shipping Iranian commodities to China. OFAC said the vessel recently transferred cargo while at sea to another sanctioned ship, the Mehle, which is currently traveling to China with the Iranian goods.
A trade association representing ASML, Applied Materials and other major semiconductor companies called on the EU to keep any new export controls narrowly targeted and abandon its plans for an outbound investment screening mechanism, saying new restrictions would be a “major interference” for the chip industry. It also cautioned European lawmakers about introducing new supply chain reporting obligations that would place too big a burden on industry.
The EU should impose more sanctions against Venezuela for the Nicolas Maduro regime’s attacks against civil society and political opposition figures, the European Parliament said in a resolution this week. The resolution, approved 497-22, with 27 abstentions, said the bloc should increase sanctions on “high-level officials, members of the security forces, members of the regime’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice and Maduro himself” for their role in “imprisoning hundreds of political prisoners.”
The EU on March 13 removed 12 names from its Russian sanctions regime, including nine Russian political and military figures who have died. The three living de-listed people are Arkady Volozh, a Russian businessman and co-founder of internet company Yandex; Serguey Mndoiants, vice president of government relations for AFK Sistema; and Jozef Hambalek, president of the European wing of the Night Wolves motorcycle club. The EU also amended the entries for 97 people and nine entities.
The European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional deal March 14 to update the rules on the "import, export and transit of firearms into and from the EU," the council announced. The rules seek to close loopholes for firearms trafficking while boosting trade of firearms for "legitimate purposes," the council said.