Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The State and Treasury departments should form a task force to “robustly investigate and sanction” illicit gold trafficking networks, a watchdog group representative told a House panel March 25.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 82 entities, mostly in mainland China, to the Entity List, targeting technology companies, chip firms, electronics businesses and others for their ties to Chinese military end-users. The additions, the first since President Donald Trump took office in January, also target entities in Taiwan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Iran for a range of reasons that BIS said are “contrary to the national security and foreign policy” of the U.S.
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on March 24 heard a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against the EU's countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The DSB "took note" of statements made by China and the EU and said it would "revert to this matter should a requesting member wish to do so."
The European Commission on March 24 began monitoring import volumes of ethylene and ammonia products, which are primarily used for fertilizer production and "industrial applications," in order to levy duties on the products should imports surge in the EU. The commission said it began the surveillance because of "evidence of a significant and potentially injurious increase in the EU market share of imports of the chemicals," which purportedly is the result of overcapacity in China and trade defense measures from a "growing number of countries." Specifically, the surveillance covers "imports of copolymers of ethylene and alpha olefin, urea containing more than 45% (by weight) of nitrogen and ammonium sulphate," and will be in place for three years.
The U.K., Switzerland and France last week launched a new task force that they said will “strengthen our collective effort” to tackle bribery- and corruption-related crimes. The three countries’ International Anti-Corruption Prosecutorial Taskforce will allow them to regularly share information on enforcement work and propose coordinating on cases, they said. The task force was announced more than a month after the Trump administration unveiled plans to roll back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (see 2502100055 and 2502120051).
The Department of the Treasury last week dropped sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash following a review of the "novel legal and policy issues raised by use of financial sanctions against financial and commercial activity occurring within evolving technology and legal environments." Treasury told a Texas court it removed Tornado Cash from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list, arguing that a case against the sanctions listing should now be briefed on whether the issue is moot (Van Loon, et al. v. Department of the Treasury, W.D. Tex. # 23-00312).
Three Democratic senators urged the Trump administration March 24 to work with Congress if it needs more time to find a resolution that complies with a U.S. law requiring China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban on the popular social media application.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the Trump administration March 20 to consider further easing sanctions on Syria to help the war-torn country rebuild following last year’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Three House members announced March 21 that they have introduced a companion bill to Senate legislation that would restrict U.S. outbound investment in China.