A World Trade Organization dispute panel on Oct. 2 found that the EU violated its WTO commitments in its antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products from Indonesia. Specifically, the dispute panel rejected the European Commission's attempt to countervail Chinese transnational subsidies in the Indonesian steel sector.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is asking industry to complete its "sanctions perceptions" survey, which will "help inform how sanctions policy and services evolve to better serve UK businesses," the agency said in an Oct. 6 email to industry. "Your input is invaluable and will contribute to identifying knowledge gaps, exploring ways to improve industry compliance, minimising barriers to legitimate business and provide feedback on work undertaken/sanctions improvements over the past 18 months." The survey deadline is Oct. 10.

The President's Export Council wasn't among a list of federal advisory committees that President Donald Trump chose to maintain in an executive order released Sept. 29, and a White House spokesperson this week called the council "unnecessary."

Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., introduced a bill Sept. 30 that would impose sanctions on Azerbaijan if the country violates its new peace agreement with Armenia.

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Trump administration Oct. 3 to resist a reported push by China to reduce national security restrictions on its investments in the U.S. “China’s true desire is to take advantage of our country’s industry and knowledge, stealing innovation and threatening jobs,” Moolenaar said in a statement. “China has weaponized its own market and companies against us for decades, and we cannot allow those companies to have more access to our economy.”

Turkey recently reimposed certain sanctions against Iran following the U.N.'s move last month to reimpose Iranian restrictions that were paused after the 2015 nuclear deal (see 2510010018 and 2508280033). Turkey's designations apply to nearly 40 people and entities, according to an unofficial translation.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 6 removed Horacio Manuel Cartes, former president of Paraguay, from its Specially Designated Nationals List. OFAC also removed five entities that had been sanctioned for supporting Cartes or for ties to the former president, including Tabacalera del Este, Tabesa, Frigorifico Chajha, Dominicana Acquisition, Bebidas and Tabacos. The agency didn't release more information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned eight Mexicans and 12 Mexico-based companies that it said have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction, a group designated in June for helping to traffic fentanyl to the U.S. (see 2506090023).

Export controls are likely to continue to be on the negotiating table during upcoming U.S.-China trade talks, panelists said this week.

Brian Nelson, one of the Treasury Department's top sanctions officials during the administration of Joe Biden, has joined Cooley to lead its national security practice, the law firm announced last week. Nelson previously served as Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, where he oversaw the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Nelson will work on issues related to sanctions, export controls, national security investigations and more, the firm said.