The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma and Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, two senior members of the Mexico-based Cartel del Noreste, formerly known as Los Zetas, for their roles in trafficking firearms and violence. OFAC said de Anda oversees payments to “facilitators” and straw purchasers in the U.S., who make “false representations” to buy firearms from American businesses. Gonzalez led an armed enforcement wing of the cartel that has carried out attacks on the Mexican police and military, OFAC said. Mexican authorities arrested Gonzalez in February.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week deleted multiple Venezuela-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including Alejandro Antonio Fleming Cabrera and Leonardo Gonzalez. Fleming Cabrera was sanctioned in 2017 for being a senior Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, and Gonzalez was sanctioned in 2019 for his ties to corruption in Venezuela. The agency didn't release more information about the delistings.

U.S. and Indonesian officials convened in Jakarta this week to discuss Indonesian efforts to develop an export control system, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta said, and the two sides “facilitated dialogue and produced recommendations that will contribute” to the new system.

Beijing this week threatened to penalize any person or company that complies with new export control guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security about advanced Huawei chips, saying the guidance constitutes “discriminatory restrictive measures against Chinese companies.”

Although the Bureau of Industry and Security announced last week that it won’t be enforcing the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, companies should reassess their due diligence practices to prepare for a replacement rule and make sure they’re complying with existing chip controls, law firms said, which they expect the Trump administration to aggressively enforce.

Eun Young Choi, former deputy assistant attorney general in DOJ’s National Security Division, has joined Arnold & Porter. Choi will work in the firm’s practices focused on white collar defense and national security. Choi worked on a range of national security-related issues at DOJ, including sanctions and foreign investment reviews.

A Federal Maritime Commission administrative law judge has approved a confidential agreement to settle allegations by U.S.-based protective equipment supplier AirBoss Defense Group that non-vessel-operating common carrier FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage and ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. charged unfair demurrage and detention fees, according to an FMC notice released May 15.

Lesotho formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on May 20, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 99. The WTO needs 12 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.

Russia opened a World Trade Organization dispute on May 19 against the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism, arguing that the mechanism violates various provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. Russia's request for consultations also covered the EU's scheme for greenhouse gas emissions allowances trading within the EU.

Poland seized 5 tons of Boeing commercial aircraft tires that were scheduled to illegally transit through Russia and Belarus in possible violation of EU sanctions, the country’s customs agency said this week, according to an unofficial translation. Customs authorities discovered the tires after inspecting a truck in Koroszczyn, near Poland’s border with Belarus, and found that the truck wasn’t transporting its declared car and bus tires. The sender of the tires was a company based in Spain, and the recipient was listed in Azerbaijan, the agency said. Poland is investigating the case for sanctions violations, it said, and also launched “tax criminal proceedings” for “customs fraud.”