As lawmakers consider imposing new sanctions on Russia, they should ensure they don’t hinder the Trump administration’s ability to negotiate a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said June 11.
The U.S. and China reached an agreement for Beijing to rein in export curbs on critical minerals, and for the U.S. to "provide to China what was agreed to," President Donald Trump said June 11, offering few details about the substance of the deal.
The Commerce Department is still waiting to issue its long-awaited proposed rule on routed exports despite making progress on the effort in recent months, said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations at the Census Bureau.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s lack of an official replacement regulation for the Biden-era AI diffusion rule is causing significant uncertainty for companies working in the semiconductor sector, industry officials said this week. Although BIS has said it doesn’t plan to enforce the rule, at least one consultant said she’s not yet comfortable advising clients to ignore those restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is still discussing how it wants to craft its replacement to the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, an agency official said, as well as preparing to finalize recent rules that reduced licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items and proposed to simplify the License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization. The official also said the Trump administration is considering tweaks to export licensing, acknowledging that applications are taking longer than usual.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has officially appointed Joe Bartlett, former legislative affairs director, to be the agency's new deputy undersecretary, according to his LinkedIn page and the BIS website. Bartlett's previous role was filled by Madison Hardimon, a former congressional staffer, who joined BIS last month. The announcements come more than a month after James Rockas, former BIS deputy undersecretary, left the agency (see 2504290004).
A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge ordered Chinese ocean carrier COSCO Shipping Lines June 6 to pay California-based motor carrier Access One Transport $32,495 in reparations for imposing unfair detention fees.
A Pakistani national was convicted last week of smuggling "Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry" meant for the Houthis in Yemen, DOJ announced. Muhammad Pahlawan will be sentenced on Sept. 22 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
A Chinese national pleaded guilty on June 9 to illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and "other military items" to North Korea by hiding them inside shipping containers leaving a California port, DOJ announced. Shenghua Wen admitted to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
A Russian citizen was charged with using his cryptocurrency company Evita to violate U.S. sanctions by funneling over $500 million in overseas payments through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a 22-count indictment unsealed by DOJ on June 9. Iurii Gugnin, a resident of New York and a Russian citizen, was charged with wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, among other charges.