The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week updated a range of entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List to include the fact that they're a "secondary sanctions risk." The change impacts sanctioned people and entities with ties to China, Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and other regions. OFAC didn't immediately release more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned five people and three companies with ties to a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network supporting the terror group Hezbollah.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is ending its work in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council as part of a broader effort to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, Jeffrey Kessler, the head of BIS, said in a closed-door meeting with agency officials last week. Kessler also said the agency plans to significantly increase export enforcement against China, warned about possible staffing cuts, urged officials to tamp down on conversations with industry, and said it’s unclear whether existing export controls against Russia will be maintained.
The U.K. said it generally won’t penalize an organization for using a “suspense account” to temporarily record sanctioned assets, the country’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in new frequently asked question 145 published this week.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, both said March 26 that they welcome the Trump administration’s decision to add 82 entities, mostly tech firms in mainland China, to the Commerce Department’s Entity List (see 2503250075).
Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Jim Himes, D-Conn., reintroduced a bill March 26 that would require the administration to develop a strategy to prevent the use of digital assets for illicit activity, including sanctions evasion. The Financial Technology Protection Act, which the House passed in the last Congress (see 2407230002), was referred to the House Financial Services Committee. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is expected to reintroduce a Senate companion.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote March 27 a bill aimed at curbing China’s export of fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexican drug traffickers.
The U.K. this week amended or corrected sanctions listings under its Russia and Global Human Rights sanctions regimes. Under the Russia restrictions, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the listings for 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD, noting that the companies are sanctioned for supporting the Russian government by "carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance" to the Russian government, "namely the Russian energy sector." Under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, OFSI corrected the listing for Wasantha Karannagoda, commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 2005 to 2009, to reflect the title of Admiral as part of his full name.
The U.S. is asking Malaysia to more closely track shipments of advanced semiconductors, including chips made by U.S. firm Nvidia, to make sure they’re not transiting the country before ending up in China in violation of U.S. export controls, the Financial Times reported. Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz said the U.S. is “asking us to make sure that we monitor every shipment that comes to Malaysia when it involves Nvidia chips,” according to the report. “They want us to make sure that servers end up in the data centres that they're supposed to and not suddenly move to another ship." Aziz also said Malaysia recently formed a task force to tighten regulations around the country’s data center sector, which relies on Nvidia chips.
Technology companies and industry groups mostly supported a January State Department rule that will add items to the U.S. Munitions List and remove other items that no longer warrant control (see 2501160027), although they said new restrictions around autonomous underwater vehicles, radar-related technology and more could cause unintended consequences.