The price cap on Russian oil has so far failed to stop Moscow from earning revenue for its war against Ukraine, witnesses told the U.K. Parliament this week. While one witness said the U.K. should consider placing new restrictions on certain energy purchases from companies that are still buying Russian oil, another said that may be too complicated for businesses to comply with.
The U.K. on May 15 issued an open general export license related to exports of military goods for exhibition. The license includes a list of goods that can be exported to "a destination in any country," except for 91 countries, "providing they are being exported for the purpose of exhibition, and are to be returned to the United Kingdom." The license covers cluster munitions, explosive submunitions, anti-personnel landmines and explosive bomblets, among other products. Countries where the goods may not be shipped include China, Iran, North Korea and others listed on page nine of the license.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should add several Chinese firms to its Entity List for helping China’s military and human rights violations, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said May 13.
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China and Switzerland held talks May 10 on upgrading the free trade agreement between the two countries, China's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. Following the talks in Beijing, the parties agreed to "jointly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries" and boost the start of talks to upgrade the FTA, the ministry said.
Citing national security concerns, President Joe Biden issued an order May 13 prohibiting China’s MineOne from continuing to operate a cryptocurrency mine near Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Some technology companies and industry groups were supportive of an ongoing effort by the Bureau of Industry’s Security to stop advanced artificial intelligence models from being used by dangerous end-users, but many also said the agency’s proposed know-your-customer regulations for U.S. cloud service providers should be tweaked or rewritten. Others said the new KYC rules could place too heavy a burden on cloud service providers and could undermine trust in American providers.
Four House Republicans said last week they’re concerned the Biden administration is considering giving small and medium-sized businesses in Cuba access to the U.S. banking system even though such entities are generally controlled by Cuba's communist government.
The House Select Committee on China announced last week it has begun investigating Georgia Institute of Technology’s research collaboration with China’s Tianjin University, which has “significant ties” to China's military and has been on the Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2020 (see 2012180039).
The U.S. should form a new export control strategy to better pinpoint the restrictions that will impose the highest costs on China, with a particular focus on technologies where the U.S. and its allies dominate the global market, researchers said. They also said the U.S. should create a new agency or government position to coordinate export controls, sanctions and other economic statecraft tools against China and other adversaries.