The Bureau of Industry and Security is reviewing public comments on two rules it proposed last year to expand U.S. persons controls, a Commerce Department official said March 18.
The congressionally mandated National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology is expected to include recommendations on export control policy in its upcoming report to Congress, a Commerce Department official said March 18.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn't yet lifted all the licensing holds that began for export applications in early February, a Commerce Department official said this week, although the agency is hoping to make progress on the holds soon.
The Trump administration plans to substantially increase fines against companies that violate export controls, including against China, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said this week. He also said the U.S. is planning to incorporate export control commitments into free trade deal negotiations as a way to incentivize trading partners to better restrict their sensitive technologies.
Three U.K.-registered charity organizations violated the country’s financial sanctions regulations when they failed to respond to letters from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, the agency said this month.
Arkansas’ six-member congressional delegation urged the EU March 14 to revise its proposed deforestation reporting requirements (see 2412060050), saying they would unfairly burden U.S. exporters with technical barriers to trade.
The Council of the European Union on March 17 added Al Azaim Media Foundation, the media branch of the Islamic State's Khorasan Province, to its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The ISIL sanctions list now includes a total of 15 people and seven entities.
The Council of the European Union on March 14 extended the sanctions on those undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine for another six months, pushing the restrictions out to Sept. 15. The council also decided not to renew the listings of four people and removed three deceased individuals from the list. The sanctions apply to nearly 2,400 people and entities.
The Group of 7 nations last week discussed imposing more sanctions against Russia if it doesn't agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, including potentially a more strict cap on oil prices, they said in a joint statement after meeting in Quebec. They said any ceasefire “must be respected” and include “robust and credible security arrangements to ensure that Ukraine can deter and defend against any renewed acts of aggression.” The countries -- the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K., plus a representative from the EU -- also “condemned” military aid, along with the provision of weapons and dual-use components to Russia, by China, Iran and North Korea. The statement said China is “a decisive enabler of Russia’s war and of the reconstitution of Russia’s armed forces. We reiterated our intention to continue to take action against such third countries.”