The U.K. this week published two new guidance documents that track exceptions and previous amendments to its Russia sanctions regime. The guidance allows users to search through a list of all Russia sanctions exceptions that the U.K. has introduced, as well as a list of the "statutory instruments" that have made changes to those sanctions and descriptions of the changes made.
China on Sept. 25 added three U.S. companies to its Unreliable Entity List for arms sales to Taiwan and three others to its Export Control List because they “endanger” Chinese national security, the Ministry of Commerce said.
Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Delegate James Moylan, R-Guam, introduced a bill this month that would require the executive branch to report to Congress annually on China’s semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, including whether U.S. and allied export controls are curbing the development of that equipment.
Officials from the U.K. and Bermuda issued a joint statement this week committing to boost cooperation on sanctions, and the U.K. agreed to provide Bermuda with up to 300,000 pounds, or about $400,000, this year "for new initiatives to enhance Bermudian sanctions capacity and capability."
The U.K. this week sanctioned a British band and its label for counterterrorism reasons after they were found guilty of terrorism-related charges. The country sanctioned the musical group Embers of an Empire and its production company, Rampage Productions, for "promoting and encouraging terrorism via its dissemination of music whose content promotes and encourages terrorism." The U.K. also said they have "made funds available" to parties "involved in terrorism."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned five people and one entity for helping North Korea's government generate revenue for its weapons and missile programs, including through weapons sales to the Myanmar military.
U.S. export controls on chips are working and should be maintained, not swapped in a trade deal as part of a “grand bargain” between the Trump administration and Beijing (see 2507150013 and 2508010002), said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council official during the Biden administration.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Sept. 23 announced its plans to update export controls under its special chemicals, organisms, materials, equipment and technologies (SCOMET) scheme to reflect recent changes made by multilateral export control regimes. The changes include new or revised controls for certain categories of emerging technologies under Category 7, including systems, equipment and components; test, inspection and production equipment; materials; software; and technology. The major changes begin on Page 182 of the updated SCOMET list. India said they will take effect 30 days after Sept. 23.
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who recently led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine, Poland and Germany, called on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sept. 24 to schedule a House floor vote on the proposed Sanctioning Russia Act, which would impose additional sanctions on Russia and new tariffs on countries that buy its oil and gas.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Indian nationals Sadiq Abbas Habib Sayyed and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh for working with narcotics traffickers to supply "hundreds of thousands" of counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl and other illegal drugs to people in the U.S. OFAC also sanctioned Shaikh's company, KS International Traders, which the agency said is a "purported online pharmacy used in furtherance of Shaikh’s criminal activities." Both Shaikh and Sayyed were indicted on narcotics-related charges by DOJ last year.