The U.S. government should create a joint interagency task force led by the national security adviser to develop better ways to prevent China from obtaining sensitive dual-use technology from the U.S. and its allies, a bipartisan congressionally mandated commission said Nov. 19.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who is slated to become Senate majority leader when Republicans take control of the chamber in January, said Nov. 17 that the Senate should pass legislation to sanction International Criminal Court officials if the ICC doesn't stop pursuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., announced Nov. 18 that he will vote for legislation to block the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.
The Census Bureau on Nov. 17 updated one port of unlading code name and one port of unlading code country in the Automated Export System to fix spelling errors from a previous update (see 2410210006), according to a message emailed to industry. The update includes the correct spellings for the port in Whonnock, British Columbia, and the port in Tolu, Colombia.
A new U.K. general license released this week authorizes certain payments involving sanctioned Iranian airline Iran Air. The license, effective Nov. 18, allows payments that are required to "exercise Iran's right" to "overfly the United Kingdom" or "make a Stop for Non-Traffic purposes in the United Kingdom" in line with the Convention on International Civil Aviation and its Annexes. The license also allows for payments from Iran Air for "contractual obligations that arose prior to Iran Air's designation in respect of ground services or airport services in the UK," including ticket refunds from canceled flights to or from the U.K., as long as no payments are made to another sanctioned party.
The U.S. this week sanctioned three entities and several people for their ties to violence in the West Bank or for undermining peace in the region, including an organization that aids Israelis previously designated by the U.S.
The EU expanded the scope of its sanctions framework on Russia to cover vessels and ports used to transfer Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles and related components for use in the war in Ukraine, the Council of the EU announced Nov. 18. The move bars the "export, transfer, supply, or sale from the EU to Iran of components used in the development and production of missiles and UAVs," the council said, and a ban on transactions with ports and locks that are owned or controlled by sanctioned parties or used to transfer Iranian UAVs, missiles or component parts to Russia.
Export control lawyer Christopher Stagg recently launched a U.S. Munitions List revision tracker to capture updates made to USML categories within the International Traffic in Arms Regulations in recent years. The document reflects changes across all USML categories “since their revision under Export Control Reform,” Stagg said on LinkedIn, adding that he plans to update the tracker with future USML changes. Each category includes the Export Control Reform effective date, any completed regulatory changes along with their Federal Register citations, any proposed modifications and any expected future revisions.
Chinese President Xi Xinping raised concerns about U.S. export controls during what was expected to be his last meeting with President Joe Biden before Donald Trump takes office (see 2411140018), warning the U.S. against pursuing policies that could lead to the decoupling of the two economies.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. soon will be able to impose higher penalties, collect a broader range of information from parties involved in non-notified transactions, fine companies and issue subpoenas in a wider set of circumstances, and gain other expanded powers as part of a final rule expected to be formally issued by the Treasury Department in the coming days.