The Bureau of Industry and Security have outlined a series of increased restrictions on exports to Myanmar, including a more strict licensing policy and the suspension of certain license exceptions. The changes, described by the Commerce Department last week and effective Feb. 18, came after President Joe Biden authorized sanctions and ordered stronger export controls for shipments to the country’s military after it overthrew the government earlier this month (see 2102110020).
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The U.S. on Feb. 11 announced sanctions and export controls targeting the Myanmar military, defense ministry and security services after it carried out a coup earlier this month (see 2102100060). The White House also issued an executive order outlining a new Myanmar sanctions regime and said more restrictions will be imposed “in the coming days.”
European Union Vice President Josep Borrell plans to place or review sanctions on Russian and Myanmar officials, he announced Feb. 9 during a European Parliament debate. Borrell, who visited Moscow last week, said sanctions could be included in a European response to the jailing of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Feb. 2. In another Feb. 9 speech, Borrell laid out his plans to consider imposing additional targeted sanctions on individuals and businesses owned by the Myanmar military for their involvement in the Feb. 1 military coup. He also announced his intention to assess the use of the Everything But Arms trade preferences.
The U.S. will impose sanctions this week on foreign officials behind the military coup in Myanmar (see 2102020064), President Joe Biden told reporters Feb. 10. The measures will also include a set of “strong export controls” to impose “consequences” on the leaders of the coup, Biden said. “We’ll be ready to impose additional measures,” he said, “and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts” (see 2102100012).
Fourteen senators from both sides of the aisle urged the State Department to increase sanctions pressure on Myanmar by targeting all senior officials, military officials and companies affiliated with the military-led coup last week. The U.S. not only should target leaders, the senators said in a Feb. 5 letter, but also consider sanctioning “companies and conglomerates” controlled by the military. “There is no reason to believe Burma’s military leaders will return the country to democratic rule without strong and sustained international pressure,” the senators said, led by Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top members. Coordinate sanctions with allies “as soon as possible” and convince the United Nations to investigate human rights violations related to the coup, the letter said. “Only strong, sustained, and multilateral pressure is likely to change the behavior” of Myanmar’s military, the senators wrote.
The U.S. is reviewing its sanctions authorities to impose restrictions on Myanmar officials following a coup by the country’s military earlier this week, a State Department official said Feb. 2. The agency is considering sanctioning the country's military, including senior military officials, and is working with other countries in the region to impose similar restrictions, the official said. “We will take action against those responsible, including through a careful review of our current sanctions posture,” the official told reporters, adding that the sanctions could also target companies with ties to Myanmar’s military.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 9 added one entry to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Organisations sanctions list and corrected 17 entries on its Global Human Rights sanctions list. The U.K. added Jamal Hussein Hassan Zeiniye, leader of the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, a terrorist organization, to its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions. It also revised identifying information for 17 Saudi, Russian, Myanmar and North Korea related entries. The Saudi individuals were cited for involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been living in exile in the United States, in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
After the first high-level review of the phase one trade deal, the principals talked about progress and ensuring the success of the U.S.-China trade agreement, but some believe the happy talk can't obscure that China and the U.S. are disentangling their mutual dependency in tech goods and services. “There is a re-alignment that is happening in real time,” Rideau Potomac Strategy Group President Eric Miller said in an Aug. 25 phone interview, the day after the call. U.S. and Chinese trade officials reemphasized their commitment to the phase one agreement during the Aug. 24 call, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.