Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a member of the committee, urged Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang July 11 to avoid undermining U.S. export restrictions during his upcoming trip to China to discuss AI cooperation.
The U.S. government, together with industry, needs to set clearer guardrails around sensitive technology shipments destined to China, two panelists said during an event on export controls last week. Another panelist questioned whether the Trump administration is willing to set tougher rules, saying Beijing appears to have recently gained extra leverage and adding that the U.S. has for years failed to deter companies from flouting restrictions against China.
Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have been appointed to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China for the 119th Congress, with Sullivan designated the chairman. Last year, the commission called for imposing export controls and foreign investment restrictions to prevent China from using biotechnology to commit human rights abuses (see 2412270037).
Ahead of an EU-China summit later this month, officials from both sides criticized the other’s trade practices and warned that conditions need to improve if they plan to work together on market access, economic security measures and other trade issues.
The U.K. on July 10 added two entities to its Haiti sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation sanctioned two gangs, Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm. Gran Grif is led by Luckson Elan, and Viv Ansanm is led by Jimmy Cherizier.
The U.K. issued new sanctions guidance this week to help clarify how it uses the term “domiciled” when determining if an entity is located in a restricted country. In new FAQ 153, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said it uses the term “domiciled” on a case-by-case basis, and it’s usually to examine an entity’s “place of incorporation and constitution, as we consider this to represent a substantial connection between the entity and a given jurisdiction.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently updated its website to allow users to search through the Commerce Control List’s Export Control Classification Numbers by keywords. Users can search keywords across all ECCNs or within just one CCL category.
The Russian grantor of a blocked U.S.-based trust company is suing the Office of Foreign Assets Control, saying OFAC falsely accused the trust of being used to help a Russian oligarch evade sanctions. Kuncha Kerimova, the grantor, said the trust was designed to share her wealth with her grandchildren and other descendants, not to aid designated Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.
The U.K. is open to strengthening enforcement against both British and third-country companies that illegally divert goods to Russia, said Douglas Alexander, the U.K.’s minister for trade policy and economic security.
The Senate Appropriations Committee endorsed a proposal July 10 to urge the Bureau of Industry and Security to create a program to provide financial rewards to those who report illegal exports of advanced semiconductors and AI-enabling chips to “foreign adversaries.”