The Biden administration should impose sanctions on people in Ethiopia responsible for war crimes, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, each said in recent days. The two lawmakers both pointed to a recent escalation in violence in the country and said those responsible should be held accountable.
John Carlin, former acting deputy attorney general at DOJ, has joined Paul Weiss as co-head of the Cybersecurity & Data Protection practice and partner in the Litigation Department, the firm announced. Carlin's practice will focus on cyber incident responses, crisis management, national security issues, white collar defense and the work of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the firm said. At DOJ, he held the acting deputy AG position from January to April 2021, later serving as principal associate deputy AG under Deputy AG Lisa Monaco and AG Merrick Garland. Carlin's work centered on oversight of the FBI, leading an initiative to stop corporate crime, and cracking down on individuals and entities helping Russia evade sanctions, the firm said.
The World Trade Organization will hold Trade and Environment Week Oct. 17-21 in Geneva in person and virtually, the WTO said Oct. 13. Seventeen sessions set up by WTO members, the WTO Secretariat and nongovernmental organizations will be bookended by meetings of the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment. The events will feature discussions on finding sustainable solutions to environmental problems via multilateral trade, the WTO said. This year is the third time the event has been organized.
The Commerce Department is close to completing its work on a national export strategy, said Grant Harris, the International Trade Administration's assistant secretary for industry and analysis. Harris said he hopes the administration releases the strategy, which will outline efforts to increase foreign market access for U.S. manufacturers, farmers, carmakers and other industries (see 2104220033), in the “coming months.”
The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said the administration has "a strong case for what they're doing" in restricting U.S. technology that aids the Chinese semiconductor industry (see 2210070049), but he questions how effective it will be unless the Netherlands and Japan go along.
Brazil wants to join the WTO's plurilateral Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, the WTO said this week. Switzerland's Jean-Marie Meraldi, chair of the committee, said he knows Brazil is prepping further information for its application, which was submitted in June, and that he would set up an informal meeting for signatories to talk about the documents. Thirty-three WTO countries are signatories to the agreement, and the latest member to accede was North Macedonia in 2019.
A new bill in the Senate and House could impose one-year bans on the export of certain weapons and defense items to Saudi Arabia. The bill, announced this week by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., would suspend all new license applications for exports of “any defense articles proposed or submitted to Congress” pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act, including “direct munitions containers; weapon support and support equipment; spare and repair parts; United States Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistical support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support.”
World Trade Organization members held the first meeting on fossil fuel subsidy revisions following the launch of the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative at the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO said. The meeting saw members looking for ways to increase transparency and hit long-term sustainability objectives relating to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The initiative has 47 co-sponsors and members plan to hold at least three meetings ahead of MC13.
The U.S. shouldn’t ease oil sanctions and other trade restrictions against Venezuela, which would only benefit a “criminal network known for pretending to negotiate while extorting for sanctions relief,” Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said last week. The two lawmakers said they are “deeply troubled” by reports that the Biden administration is considering lifting some sanctions to convince the Nicolas Maduro regime to allow free and fair presidential elections in 2024 (see 2210060014).
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 31 Chinese entities to its Unverified List last week, including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., a semiconductor firm that U.S. lawmakers for months have urged BIS to add to the more restrictive Entity List. The final rule, which took effect Oct. 7, also removed nine other entities from the UVL and included new guidance on what types of criteria and activities may lead to the transfer of UVL entries to the Entity List.