Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, reintroduced a bill March 13 that would prohibit U.S. natural gas from being exported to a foreign country with the intent of further exporting the gas through a foreign liquefied natural gas terminal. Sullivan is concerned about the transport of American gas by pipeline to Mexico, whose energy sector experiences corruption, fuel theft and government interference. The bill, which he offered in the last Congress (see 2410030033), was referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the Trump administration March 25 to designate two additional Venezuelan entities as foreign terrorist organizations.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., reintroduced a bill March 25 that would require CBP to create a four-year pilot program to use data analytics to identify vessels evading sanctions and export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is ending its work in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council as part of a broader effort to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, Jeffrey Kessler, the head of BIS, said in a closed-door meeting with agency officials last week. Kessler also said the agency plans to significantly increase export enforcement against China, warned about possible staffing cuts, urged officials to tamp down on conversations with industry, and said it’s unclear whether existing export controls against Russia will be maintained.
The Senate voted 53-43 along party lines late March 26 to confirm former Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender as deputy treasury secretary. The Treasury Department issued a statement welcoming Faulkender’s confirmation; it didn't say whether he had been sworn in yet. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination in early March, Faulkender said he wants to study whether changes should be made to the Biden administration’s October 2024 rule restricting outbound investment in China (see 2503060069).
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, both said March 26 that they welcome the Trump administration’s decision to add 82 entities, mostly tech firms in mainland China, to the Commerce Department’s Entity List (see 2503250075).
Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Jim Himes, D-Conn., reintroduced a bill March 26 that would require the administration to develop a strategy to prevent the use of digital assets for illicit activity, including sanctions evasion. The Financial Technology Protection Act, which the House passed in the last Congress (see 2407230002), was referred to the House Financial Services Committee. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is expected to reintroduce a Senate companion.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote March 27 a bill aimed at curbing China’s export of fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexican drug traffickers.
Six Senate Banking Committee Democrats, including ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the Trump administration March 26 to explain how it plans to implement the $20 million funding cut it recently imposed on the Bureau of Industry and Security, including whether it intends to shrink the agency’s workforce.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has terminated the agency’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness along with 13 other advisory committees, the Commerce Department said on its website. Lutnick “determined that the purposes for which fourteen of the discretionary advisory committees were established have been fulfilled, and the committees have been terminated” effective Feb. 28.