Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., introduced a bill Jan. 8 aimed at improving the ability of the U.S. and its allies to counter trade-based money laundering.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on the All-In podcast episode hosted by a Canadian-American venture capital billionaire, said India has not gotten a trade deal because the U.S. no longer wanted to offer the terms they'd agreed to when India's prime minister didn't call President Donald Trump within a three-week window.

The Council of the European Union on Jan. 9 renewed its sanctions on Guatemala for an additional year, extending them to Jan. 13, 2027. The measures apply to eight people and one entity.

The U.S.'s recent repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 “will be a significant step towards greater investment and economic activity” in the war-torn country, but challenges persist more than a year after the ouster of President Bashar Assad, a trade lawyer said in an interview Jan. 8.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that his agency plans to eventually lift sanctions against Venezuela and is receiving significant interest from independent oil companies that want to reenter the market.

Exyte has improved its compliance program after a breach of U.S. export controls led to a $1.5 million settlement with the Bureau of Industry and Security last week (see 2601080059), a company spokesperson said Jan. 9 in an email. "Following an internal review, Exyte voluntarily disclosed the matter to BIS, cooperated fully with the authorities, and has strengthened its export control compliance program and controls," the spokesperson said. "The matter is resolved."

Companies should expect the Trump administration to continue to rely heavily on sanctions and sanctions enforcement as a foreign policy tool in 2026, including through new designations to pressure countries in the Western Hemisphere and penalties on gatekeepers that enable evasion, law firms said this month. They also said it's still unclear how the U.S. will approach its sanctions regime against Venezuela, although the administration would likely be able to easily roll back many of those restrictions.

The Pentagon is looking to tighten controls around fundamental research to better shield that research from “malign" foreign influence and intellectual property theft, including by barring grants if the research involves companies on the agency's 1260H List.

Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., who was a leading voice on human-rights-related sanctions legislation before retiring from the Senate at the end of 2024 (see 2412120051), plans to become a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, he said Jan. 8 in a hallway interview at the Capitol. The school's Washington, D.C., campus is on Pennsylvania Avenue near Capitol Hill.

China's Ministry of Commerce is beginning an antidumping duty probe on imported Japanese dichlorosilane, a precursor chemical used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The ministry is accepting public comments within 20 days of Jan. 7, according to an unofficial translation, and expects to conclude the investigation within a year. The announcement came one day after the ministry announced new dual-use export controls against Japan, which were imposed in response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi saying that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could potentially trigger a military response (see 2601070002).