The U.K. this week amended or corrected sanctions listings under its Russia and Global Human Rights sanctions regimes. Under the Russia restrictions, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the listings for 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD, noting that the companies are sanctioned for supporting the Russian government by "carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance" to the Russian government, "namely the Russian energy sector." Under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, OFSI corrected the listing for Wasantha Karannagoda, commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 2005 to 2009, to reflect the title of Admiral as part of his full name.

The U.S. is asking Malaysia to more closely track shipments of advanced semiconductors, including chips made by U.S. firm Nvidia, to make sure they’re not transiting the country before ending up in China in violation of U.S. export controls, the Financial Times reported. Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz said the U.S. is “asking us to make sure that we monitor every shipment that comes to Malaysia when it involves Nvidia chips,” according to the report. “They want us to make sure that servers end up in the data centres that they're supposed to and not suddenly move to another ship." Aziz also said Malaysia recently formed a task force to tighten regulations around the country’s data center sector, which relies on Nvidia chips.

Six Senate Banking Committee Democrats, including ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the Trump administration March 26 to explain how it plans to implement the $20 million funding cut it recently imposed on the Bureau of Industry and Security, including whether it intends to shrink the agency’s workforce.

Technology companies and industry groups mostly supported a January State Department rule that will add items to the U.S. Munitions List and remove other items that no longer warrant control (see 2501160027), although they said new restrictions around autonomous underwater vehicles, radar-related technology and more could cause unintended consequences.

Longtime Bureau of Industry and Security officials Hillary Hess, Sheila Quarterman and Carlos Monroy soon will retire from the agency, multiple people familiar with the matter said.

The EU is growing increasingly concerned about Beijing's use of export controls and trade remedies as retaliatory tools against other nations, a senior European Commission official said this week.

Vietnam is reportedly reducing tariffs on imported American liquefied natural gas, ethanol, automobiles and other goods as part of a bid to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. and avoid facing increased duties imposed by the Trump administration (see 2502130030).

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has terminated the agency’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness along with 13 other advisory committees, the Commerce Department said on its website. Lutnick “determined that the purposes for which fourteen of the discretionary advisory committees were established have been fulfilled, and the committees have been terminated” effective Feb. 28.

Exporters who send their goods in ocean freight testified to an interagency panel that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's proposal to require a segment of exports to travel on U.S.-flagged, and eventually, U.S.-built ships (see 2502240058) will harm their business, or even make transport so expensive that they will be priced out of sales altogether.

Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., introduced a bill March 24 that would sanction Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Asim Munir under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for allegedly undermining democracy, such as by imprisoning political opponents. The Pakistan Democracy Act was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary committees.