Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., introduced a bill Nov. 6 that would create a program to identify and sanction foreign traffickers and manufacturers of counterfeit drugs and drug ingredients.
After a visit from five Central Asian presidents, President Donald Trump posted on social media that Uzbekistan will do a combination of purchases of U.S. exports and investments in the U.S. worth almost $35 billion over the next three years. He said these purchases and investments would be in critical minerals, aviation, auto parts, energy and chemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and information technology.
The U.K. on Nov. 7 removed two individuals from its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation delisted Ahmad Hussain Al-Sharaa, the president of Syria and former leader of the al-Nusra Front, and Anas Hasan Khattab, the Syrian minister of interior.
President Donald Trump said Nov. 7 that he’s considering giving Hungary an exemption from sanctions that his administration recently imposed on two major Russian energy companies.
The Treasury Department won’t issue a license to Gunvor Corp. to operate Lukoil’s international energy business in the event of its sale, the agency said on social media last week. “As long as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin’s puppet, Gunvor, will never get a license to operate and profit,” Treasury said.
Australia last week sanctioned four entities and one individual with ties to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The designations, added to the country’s consolidated sanctions list Nov. 6, target an alleged computer hacker and four hacking groups associated with North Korean intelligence programs.
The Chinese government announced that it's delaying its export licensing system that it announced in October, which affected rare earth processing equipment, extraterritorial use of its rare earths, and battery manufacturing equipment.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a notice Nov. 10 officially suspending its Affiliates Rule for one year, beginning immediately. The stay of the rule, which applies Entity List prohibitions to unlisted entities owned at least 50% by companies on the Entity List, will run through Nov. 9, 2026, as expected.
The Defense Department will transfer oversight of its defense export functions from its policy head to its acquisition chief as part of a broader bureaucracy streamlining effort, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Nov. 7.
Matt Rosenbaum, former senior counsel with the Bureau of Industry and Security, has joined Holland & Knight's international trade group, the firm said this week. Rosenbaum left BIS in October after joining the agency in January 2024.