Stephanie Connor left her position as assistant director of the Office of Foreign Asset Control's Policy Division to join Holland & Knight's international trade group. Connor, who first joined OFAC in 2022 as an assistant chief counsel, will advise on OFAC sanctions issues, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. regulations, and more.

China this week announced antidumping duties on more types of optical fiber imports from the U.S. after launching an investigation in March to determine whether American companies were evading tariffs on certain optical fibers (see 2503060062). The new AD will apply to "non-dispersion-shifted single-mode optical fibers" from the U.S., China's Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 3, according to an unofficial translation. The duties will range from 33.3% to 78.2% beginning Sept. 4 and remain in place through April 21, 2028.

The U.S. charged Armenian national Kamo Kirakosyan this week with violating export controls after DOJ said he participated in a conspiracy to illegally export semiconductor manufacturing items from the U.S. to Russia through Armenia.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said late Sept. 3 that while he welcomes the recent decision by France, Germany and the U.K. to initiate snapback U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear weapons program (see 2508280033), he believes the U.S. will need to work with the trio to ensure adherence to the sanctions.

The House Appropriations Committee approved an FY 2026 financial services and general government appropriations bill Sept. 3 that would provide $21 million for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the same amount as both the Trump administration’s request and the FY 2025 enacted level.

The U.S. this week sanctioned Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for aiding efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged human rights violations in Gaza.

The U.S. isn't doing enough to compete with China on technology, partly because of its failure to meaningfully restrict outbound investments and its willingness to let American companies continue to sell advanced chips to China, said Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Christopher Pilkerton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for investment security (see 2506040013), said Sept. 4 that he would aim to increase compliance with U.S. requirements for foreign investment.

Democrats in the Senate are arguing that it's time to pass a bipartisan bill that would authorize up to 500% tariffs on goods from countries that buy Russian oil and gas and aren't providing aid to Ukraine to defend itself.

Veronica Dragalin, former assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and former chief prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office for Moldova, has joined Jones Day's investigations and white collar defense practice, the firm announced. Dragalin has worked on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, among other white collar issues.