Turkey opened a safeguard investigation on paper and paperboard on Dec. 31, the country told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards. Turkey said interested parties are required to fill out investigation questionnaires within 30 days from the date of publication of the safeguard announcement and submit it to the Ministry of Trade's Directorate General for Imports.

Last month's U.S. air strikes on Islamic State militants in Nigeria have not eliminated the need for a bill to impose property-blocking sanctions on Nigerian officials who permit or promote the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Jan. 6. “I think the legislation remains important,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Jan. 5 introduced a joint resolution of disapproval for proposed military sales to Taiwan, but it was not immediately clear which defense articles and services would be targeted.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control renewed a general license this week that authorizes payments of certain taxes, fees, import duties, licenses, certifications and other similar transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation that would normally be blocked under Directive 4 of Executive Order 14024. General License 13P, which replaces 13O, authorizes those transactions through 12:01 a.m. ET April 9, as long as they're “ordinarily incident and necessary to the day-to-day operations in the Russian Federation of such U.S. persons or entities.” The license was scheduled to expire Jan. 9.

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The U.S. government hasn't yet approved license applications for Nvidia to sell its H200 AI chips to China, Nvidia CFO Colette Kress said this week.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has selected Randy Schriver as chair and Mike Kuiken as vice chair for 2026. Schriver was previously vice chair. Both were appointed for commission terms that end Dec. 31, 2027.

Jennifer Lucas retired from her role as the Commerce Department's acting assistant general counsel for legislation and regulation, she announced last week on LinkedIn. Lucas worked at Commerce for more than 23 years.

Maersk is "actively monitoring logistics operations, security conditions, and regulatory updates to ensure the safety" of cargo amid the ongoing U.S. blockade of Venezuelan energy shipments (see 2601050056), the shipping company said in Jan. 5 emailed customer advisory. "Our priorities are safety, service continuity, and full compliance. As long as safety and operational conditions allow, services will continue," Maersk said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced Jan. 5 that he has appointed Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to replace Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., as ranking member of the House Select Committee on China.