While a possible Kamala Harris administration would likely continue the current Biden administration’s approach of streamlining various denied-party lists through measured, phased-in updates, a Donald Trump-run government would probably pursue a “blunter approach” and spend less time on evaluating industry impact before putting in place sweeping new sanctions, the Rhodium Group said in a report last month. Although the report examines a hypothetical situation in which the U.S. adds companies from the Commerce Department’s Entity List to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list, it called that a “bazooka option” and said more likely scenarios include expanding the scope of the Treasury Department’s list of Chinese military companies subject to certain investment restrictions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five Colombian nationals and two Mexican businesses for ties to illegal drug trade.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued more guidance about its new Russia-related information technology and software services restrictions that took effect Sept. 12 (see 2409120033). One FAQ addresses questions about certain authorized services, and the other two address questions about the scope of the exclusions under the restrictions.
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.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has removed multiple companies from a list of flagged foreign suppliers accused of illegal sales to Russia, including one after the company told BIS it was added by mistake, Export Compliance Daily has learned.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines accused of violating U.S. export controls against Russia. BIS first suspended the export privileges of Aeroflot, Azur Air and UTair in 2022, barring the airlines from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (see 2204070010), and has renewed their denial orders several times (see 2309270004). BIS said all three airlines continue to "act in blatant disregard" for U.S. export controls by continuing to operate aircraft subject to the EAR. The orders include a table of recent flights operated by each airline.
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi pleaded guilty last week to participating in a scheme to convince a U.S. person to move hundreds of thousands of dollars, in violations of U.S. sanctions, DOJ said. Bazzi, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 for helping to finance the terror group Hezbollah, agreed to forfeit the nearly $830,000 involved in the transaction and to be removed from the U.S. after his sentence. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Lawmakers plan to take action this week on sanctions-related measures aimed at Georgia, Hong Kong and the Yemen-based Houthis.
Austria, Estonia, Lithuania and the Netherlands on Sept. 22 signed onto a statement committing to place export controls around spyware technology, joining the U.S. and more than 15 other countries as part of an effort to raise trade guardrails for cyber-related items used for human rights violations.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed export restrictions and other trade issues during a Sept. 21 meeting, agreeing to order their governments to “redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries.” They said they will address “technology security” through the India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue and noted India’s ratification of certain agreements under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (see 2403140003), according to the White House statement. The two leaders also spoke about agricultural trade, saying the U.S. and India will “enhance cooperation with the private sector through discussions on regulatory issues and innovation to enhance bilateral trade,” the White House said.