The U.S. government is taking several steps to curb the transfer of U.S. firearms to drug cartels and other violent groups in Mexico, a State Department official told a congressional panel last week.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 19 again extended a general license that continues to delay an exemption that would authorize certain transactions related to Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., Venezuela’s state-owned energy company. General License 5T, which replaced GL 5S, now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after Feb. 3, 2026. The previous license was set to allow those transactions to occur on or after Dec. 20.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned five adult family members of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, a nephew of the wife of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
A bipartisan group of House members led by Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, introduced a compromise Russia sanctions bill Dec. 18 that they hammered out through a flurry of year-end negotiations.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., led six other House Republicans in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would increase congressional oversight of exports of advanced AI chips to China and other “countries of concern.”
Taiwan opened dispute consultations with Canada at the World Trade Organization regarding Canada's tariff rate quotas and surtax on certain steel goods and its global duty on certain steel derivative goods, the WTO announced. The consultations request formally opens a WTO dispute and gives the parties 60 days to resolve it, after which it will be sent to adjudication before a panel.
Delegations to the World Trade Organization understand that if the WTO doesn't reform, things will get worse, rather than holding steady, according to Petter Olberg, Norway’s ambassador to the WTO and the man facilitating reform discussions.
The EU is aiming to expand the scope of its upcoming carbon border tariff to apply to 180 steel and "aluminium-intensive" products produced downstream.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration will recommend renewal of USMCA only if 20 issues can be resolved, and maybe more, as he told Congress this isn't an exhaustive list.
China has approved certain export license applications submitted by Chinese companies for shipments of controlled rare earths, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Dec. 18.