A new bill introduced in the House would require the administration to study how digital currencies could help Russia evade U.S. sanctions. The legislation, introduced March 31 by Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the chairman of and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also would create a new State Department officer to oversee sanctions evasion efforts involving digital currency.
A group of non-EU European countries aligned with the EU's March 10 sanctions decision to add 14 Russian businesspeople and 146 members of the Russian Federation Council to the sanctions regime over Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see 2203100021). Aligning were North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 1 fined S&P Global, a business analytics firm, $78,750 for violating U.S. Ukraine-related sanctions regulations. OFAC said the case was non-egreious, partly due to S&P's cooperation and agreement to improve its compliance program.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its 2022 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, detailing the most significant foreign market access issues facing U.S. exporters. The report examines a range of import policies, tariffs, customs procedures and phytosanitary measures that are restricting U.S. goods, including China’s new “opaque and burdensome” facility registration requirements.
Australia will soon impose an additional 35% tariff on all imports from Russia and Belarus in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Australia will rescind its most-favored-nation tariff treatment for both countries, effective April 25, the country’s foreign ministry said March 31. It said it will “continue to work with partners to impose the maximum costs on Russia,” including sanctions and other trade restrictions (see 2203210006 and 2203180006).
The House should add stronger sanctions measures to the Russia-related bills recently passed out of the Financial Services Committee (see 2203180021), including more serious capital market and investment penalties, the Coalition for a Prosperous America said in a March 29 letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The U.K. added 17 new entries to its Russia sanctions regime, including big players in Russian state media, following Russia's military assault on Ukraine. The newly listed parties include Anton Anisimov, editor-in-chief of Sputnik, the Russian state-funded international news agency, along with Sputnik's parent company Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti, another major Russian media organization. In one notice, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added 12 individuals and two entities. In another notice, OFSI added three entities -- Photon Pro LLP, Majory LLP and Djeco Group LP -- to the Russia sanctions regime, subjecting them to an asset freeze, for involvement in destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.
The U.K. amended one entry under its Russia sanctions regime and removed another, in a March 30 notice. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the listing for Sergey Pavlovich Ivanov, changing his middle name from Borisovich to Pavlovich. OFSI also dropped a duplicate of the listing for Aleksander Aleksandrovich Mikheev. It said the original listing for Mikheev continues to apply and is still subject to an asset freeze.
The Treasury Department this week expanded its sanctions authorities to cover Russia’s aerospace, electronics and marine sectors, building on an April 2021 executive order that targeted the country’s defense and technology sectors (see 2104150019). Treasury also announced a host of new designations against Russian people and entities, including the country’s largest chip maker.
U.S. export controls against Russia have proven to be effective more quickly than expected, said Thea Kendler, the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export administration. While the U.S. restrictions have hit key Russian industrial and defense inputs, Kendler said a major reason behind their success has been the substantial buy-in from allies in Europe and Asia.