Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked the Trump administration July 30 to provide more information about its decision to allow Nvidia to sell H20 AI chips to China, including what “guardrails” it has put in place to ensure that the exports don’t help modernize the Chinese military.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined an industrial equipment supplier more than $1.57 million after the agency said it illegally exported refiner plates to Russia. The company, Pennsylvania-based Andritz Inc., committed 36 violations of the Export Administration Regulations by shipping more than $3.1 million worth of the plates without a license between May 2023 and February 2024, BIS said.
Guernsey, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the English Channel, announced fines of 175,000 pounds (about $230,000) and 35,000 pounds (about $45,000) against a company and its director, respectively, for Russia-related sanctions violations. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said ITI Trade and Alex Phil, its director, committed “wide-spread and systemic breaches” of sanctions regulatory requirements related to its Russian clients and “failed to ensure appropriate and effective” procedures against money laundering and financing terrorism.
Julie Stufft, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, said July 29 that she would seek to ensure U.S. companies have an “even playing field” in Kazakhstan so they can invest in the Central Asian country.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a joint resolution July 28 aimed at blocking the sale of thousands of rifles to the police force overseen by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Sanders accused Ben-Gvir of fomenting violence against Palestinians. The resolution was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate in November and April defeated legislation by Sanders to block billions of dollars in defense exports to Israel (see 2504040001).
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said July 28 on social media that he’s “alarmed” that the Trump administration is lifting sanctions on “key people linked to Burma’s military regime,” referring to the country now known as Myanmar.
The Trump administration’s recent designation of three Mexican financial institutions as primary money laundering concerns and several Latin American cartels as foreign terrorists are having a positive effect, a former U.S. official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee July 23.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, introduced a bill July 25 that would prohibit exports of medicine and prosthetic medical devices, such as artificial limbs, to Russia. The ban would stay in place until the State Department certifies to Congress that Russia has ended its military operations in Ukraine and withdrawn its forces. The Medical Supply Sanctions Act was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, that the Chinese delegation spoke too early when they said the two sides agreed to another 90 days at current tariff levels, because the president is the one to decide. However, in a later interview with CNBC, Bessent said the meetings had been "highly satisfactory."
The Council of the European Union on July 29 decided to renew its list of individuals and entities subject to restrictive measures meant to combat terrorism. The measures cover 13 individuals and 22 entities. As part of the renewal, the council delisted one deceased individual but left the rest "unchanged."