The U.S. this week sanctioned Los Chapitos, part of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel, which controls laboratories that insert fentanyl in counterfeit pills that are later trafficked to the U.S. The Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned two fugitive leaders of Los Chapitos and a regional network of Los Chapitos associates and businesses based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. OFAC said they’re involved in drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and money laundering.
Export controls aren't "perfect," but the U.S. needs to continue using them to stay ahead of China in advanced technology sectors, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said last week.
Trade enforcement under President Donald Trump could "look a little different" than how the federal government has previously acted because of how the DOJ seems now to want to focus on holding individuals accountable, as opposed to corporations, according to a trade lawyer speaking during a June 6 webinar hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center.
The U.S. is willing to lift export controls over certain semiconductors in exchange for China approving exports of rare earths and other critical minerals, a senior Trump administration official said June 9.
European countries still have "very different" levels of research security practices in place to protect against threats from China and other adversarial nations, University of Manchester researchers said in a new report. While some countries have "mature research security policies and practices," others are at an earlier stage, while "no country can be said to have institutionalised research security practices across its whole research system."
EU member states, along with the bloc's Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, met in Lithuania last week to discuss ways to strengthen export enforcement of dual-use goods sent to Russia, Lithuania's customs office said. The countries said they want to better "identify organized criminal groups and prevent illegal profit-making," and they also discussed ways to more "promptly" share information about how bad actors are evading sanctions, the notice said, according to an unofficial translation. They specifically examined sanctions evasion methods in the Baltic Sea region. The meeting featured customs and law enforcement representatives from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
The U.S. should be prepared to reimpose sanctions on Syria if the country’s new government does not head in the right direction, a researcher told a congressional panel June 5.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned more than 40 people and entities tied to Iranian brothers Mansour, Nasser and Fazlolah Zarringhalam, who have laundered billions of dollars’ worth of funds through the international financial system for Iran's “shadow banking” network, the Treasury Department said. The designations target front companies in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong along with "affiliated businessmen" and others who have ties to sales of Iranian energy.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for two export-control-related notices that could outline general authorizations for certain controlled exports. One notice is titled “GENERAL AUTHORIZATION NO. 1 Limited Use Cases,” and the other is “GENERAL AUTHORIZATION NO. 2 Temporary Importation.” BIS sent both notices to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on May 19, and the reviews were completed June 5. A BIS spokesperson didn't respond to a request for more information.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recently issued advanced chip guidance appears to raise compliance expectations for industry, especially for banks and forwarders that may be indirectly or inadvertently violating export controls on China, lawyers said.