The U.K. on Oct. 22 sanctioned a range of people and an entity for their ties to illegal migration to the country, including members of Balkan-based criminal gangs involved in selling fake passports, international financiers for their role in supporting human smugglers, and suppliers of small boat equipment.

The U.K. issued a new general license Oct. 22 authorizing certain transactions with the German subsidiaries of major Russian energy firm PJSC Rosneft Oil: Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing. The license authorizes the "continuation of business" activities with those subsidiaries -- including payments, contracts and the exchange of economic resources -- and any entity they own or control. The license, which expires Oct. 22, 2027, comes about a week after the U.K. sanctioned Rosneft (see 2510160021).

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The Commerce Department this week took its first step to implement a new program aimed at increasing U.S. exports of AI technologies and services, asking industry for feedback on how it should shape the program and how it should ensure that it complies with export controls and other national security regulations.

The Treasury Department on Oct. 22 announced new sanctions against Russia -- including against major energy companies Rosneft and Lukoil -- due to Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine.”

Asked whether the Trump administration is considering new software-related export controls on China in response to Beijing's sweeping export restrictions over rare earths, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: "I will confirm that everything is on the table."

The U.K.'s Licensing for International Trade (LITE) system will be unavailable starting the morning of Oct. 27 for "essential maintenance," the country's Department for Business & Trade said in an email to users this week. "Exporters will not be able to access the system during this time," the agency said. "We hope to resume the service as soon as possible."

The EU officially published in its Oct. 20 Official Journal the revised carbon border adjustment mechanism, which is expected to exempt 90% of European importers from the new rules (see 2509290011). The European Commission said this "marks the final step in the formal adoption process," allowing the bloc to soon require taxes on certain imports covered by the carbon duty. Traders must pay taxes beginning in 2026 (see 2310020037) and 2410170036).

The Council of the European Union on Oct. 20 largely agreed to a European Commission proposal (see 2506180058) that would ban certain Russian gas imports starting on Jan. 1 "while maintaining a transition period for existing contracts." The council next must negotiate with the European Parliament on the final text for the proposal.

EU and Chinese officials are planning to meet in Brussels in the “coming days” to discuss China’s new export controls over rare earths 2510090021), said Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade and economic security commissioner, in an Oct. 21 social media post. Sefcovic said Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will travel to Europe, and the EU hopes to “find urgent solutions on export controls.”