The Senate Commerce Committee voted 20-8 Nov. 19 to approve the nomination of Laura DiBella to fill one of two vacancies on the Federal Maritime Commission. Her nomination now heads to the full Senate for its consideration. DiBella and fellow nominee Robert Harvey both pledged last month to vigorously enforce the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 if confirmed by the Senate (see 2510220029). The committee has not announced a vote on Harvey.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said late Nov. 18 that President Donald Trump’s plan to sell F-35 jets to Saudia Arabia (see 2511180041) “raises major concerns” about protecting U.S. military technology. She urged the Trump administration to explain to the committee why the sale is vital to U.S. national interests.
As a Russia sanctions bill appears to have more momentum (see 2511170041), Democratic senators declined to say what tariff levels would be effective or appropriate if it becomes law.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation this week sanctioned Media Land, a Russia-based hosting service provider, for supporting ransomware operations and other cybercrimes. The two countries also sanctioned Media Land employees and associates Aleksandr Volosovik, Kirill Zatolokin and Yulia Pankova and a Media Land sister company, ML.Cloud.
The State Department issued Federal Register notices to officially label four Antifa groups in Europe Specially Designated Global Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The designations, effective Nov. 20, apply to Antifa Ost, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense. The agency first announced the designations earlier this month, saying the groups have engaged in various politically motivated violent activities (see 2511130036).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Ryan James Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada, for being an "extremely violent criminal" believed to be responsible for the killing of people abroad and for involvement in drug trafficking and "other serious criminal activities." OFAC said Wedding is on the FBI's 10 most wanted list and is "hiding" in Mexico.
A potential buyer of Russian energy firm Lukoil's international business will need to obtain a separate authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control -- aside from the agency's existing general license for the firm -- to complete the sale, OFAC said in a new FAQ this week.
The U.S. plans to allow United Arab Emirates-based AI company G42 and Saudi Arabia-based AI firm Humain to buy the equivalent of up to 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, also known as GB300s, the Commerce Department said in a Nov. 19 emailed press release.
Longtime senior Bureau of Industry and Security official Kevin Kurland is leaving the agency next month, multiple people familiar with the matter said. A BIS official said Kurland informed senior agency staff this week that he plans to retire from government before the end of the year.
The European Commission on Nov. 17 imposed definitive safeguard measures on ferroalloys, including country-specific tariff rate quotas that limit the volume of those imports entering the EU duty-free. Certain manganese, silicon, nickel and a range of metal alloys entering at quantities above the quota volumes can enter duty-free "if their price exceeds the established threshold," but other alloys priced below the "established threshold" will pay a duty "equivalent to the difference between the net free-at-Union-frontier price and the established price threshold for each product type," the commission said. The measures will apply "indiscriminately to all third countries," including Norway and Iceland, which are part of the European Economic Area, though the commission will carry out "trimonthly consultations with Norway and Iceland" to review the impact of the measure.