The U.S. granted sanctions relief this week for three Belarusian potash companies, days after the country's government freed political prisoners, reportedly in exchange for the eased sanctions.
A group of seven Democratic senators led by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the Commerce Department Dec. 12 for more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell advanced H200 AI chips to China (see 2512080059), including how the agency will ensure that “restricted end users,” such as entities linked to China’s military, don't get to use the semiconductors.
The Commerce Department should use its upcoming AI exports program as an opportunity to address export licensing delays within the Bureau of Industry and Security, technology companies and trade groups told the agency in public comments this month.
Rome's legislative body is reviewing two initiatives that should "reshape the compliance landscape" for companies operating in Italy, including one that would make sanctions violations a criminal offense and another that would change how companies are held liable for trade violations committed by employees, law firm McDermott Will said in a client alert this month.
China is introducing new export license requirements for certain metal products starting Jan. 1, the country's Ministry of Commerce said last week, according to an unofficial translation. The measures will impose new export controls on around 300 metal and steel products, including certain iron, scrap metal, steel bars, wire rods, steel pipes, sheets and coils. Foreign traders must "apply for export licenses," which "require the submission of an export contract and a product quality inspection certificate issued by the manufacturer," according to Chinese state-run news outlet Xinhua.
Mouser Electronics, one of several firms sued this week in a Texas state court for allegedly not doing enough to ensure the semiconductor parts they sell don't end up in Russian or Iranian hands (see 2512110054), said they will respond to the matter in court. “We deeply respect the legal process and will respond to this matter in court, versus the media,” said Kevin Hess, senior vice president of marketing at Mouser Electronics.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week removed sanctions from Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes; his wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes; and the Brazil-based Lex Institute, which his wife leads. OFAC sanctioned the judge and Lex earlier this year after accusing him of using his position to "authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression."
The U.K. added four people to its Sudan sanctions regime on Dec. 12 for their leadership positions in the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese paramilitary force waging war in Sudan. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation listed Gedo Hamdan Ahmed; Abdul Rahim Hamdan Daglo, RSF lieutenant general; Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, RSF brigadier general; and Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed, RSF field commander.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency reviews to finalize a set of regulations that in January placed new export controls on certain lab equipment that can be misused by "countries of concern" for military purposes (see 2501150020). The rulemaking, sent for interagency review Sept. 23 and completed Dec. 11, will finalize those revisions to "address the accelerating development and deployment of advanced biotechnology tools contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests," BIS said.
The U.S. government appears to be focusing more heavily on adding entities to the Pentagon’s Chinese military company list, and Chinese companies are growing increasingly concerned about being added, lawyers said.