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 clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Treasury Department received mixed feedback about its decision to delay new regulations that were set to make investment advisers subject to anti-money-laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) requirements, a Biden-era effort that was meant to prevent criminals from hiding money in the U.S. and sanctioned companies from accessing sensitive technology through investments in American firms (see 2509230035 and 2507240021).
VFC Solutions, a sanctioned Cypriot investment firm, filed a lawsuit against the Office of Foreign Assets Control for denying its petition to be delisted from the Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), arguing that the agency acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by denying the petition based on "speculation and conjecture."
Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a resolution Nov. 4 urging the Trump administration to sanction individuals and entities responsible for “severe violations” of religious freedom in Nigeria. The resolution was referred to the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., on Nov. 6 introduced as a stand-alone bill his proposal to require U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips to make their products available to American firms before selling them to U.S. arms embargoed countries. The measure was referred to the Senate Banking Committee. His proposal was included as an amendment to the Senate-passed FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, but it's unclear if it will make it into the final version amid opposition from the U.S. semiconductor industry (see 2509050056 and 2510240052).
Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, which oversees the Bureau of Industry and Security, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, introduced a bill Nov. 7 that would prohibit the executive branch from charging fees for export licenses.
China has suspended port fees for U.S. ships and sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Marine Corporation in response to the Trump administration's decision last week to drop ship fees for Chinese vessels and slash tariffs on Chinese goods (see 2511030005).
The U.S. has given Syria a new 180-day sanctions waiver under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 to help the war-torn country continue its rebuilding effort, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Nov. 10.
China suspended export controls for a year on certain key critical minerals and other dual-use items that were banned from being shipped to the U.S. for military uses, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a Nov. 9 press release. The ban on exports of gallium, germanium, antimony and “superhard materials” was originally instated in December 2024 (see 2412030022). The move comes amid a thaw in the trade conflict between the U.S. and China after talks between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping at the end of last month (see 2510300003).
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a notice Nov. 10 officially suspending its Affiliates Rule for one year, as expected (see 2510310020). The stay of the rule, which applied Entity List prohibitions to unlisted entities owned at least 50% by companies on the Entity List, takes effect immediately.