Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged Bryce McFerran to resign from his position as acting chief banking officer at the U.S. Export-Import Bank because of his ties to Russian metals and mining company Evraz, which the U.K. sanctioned in 2022 for conducting railway work that supports Russia’s military.
Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, introduced a bill Oct. 30 that seeks to ensure that the Bureau of Industry and Security and the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls can continue processing license applications for firearms exports during a lapse in government appropriations. The Firearm Access During Shutdowns Act, which also would apply to federal agencies that handle domestic sales, was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Three Republican senators introduced a bill Oct. 30 that would allow the president to sanction Chinese entities that manufacture, distribute or finance the production of nitazene precursor chemicals.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., urged the Commerce Department on Oct. 30 to support Malaysia’s new efforts to prevent the country from being used to smuggle export-controlled U.S. chips to China.
The U.S. decision to suspend the Bureau of Industry and Security's 50% rule was met with both relief and exasperation by U.S. exporters, some of whom welcomed more time to prepare while also expressing frustration with the time and resources they already spent trying to comply, including buying expensive screening software.
Kuang Chiang, a former licensing officer at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Morrison Foerster as of counsel in its national security group, the firm announced this week. Most recently, Chiang was counsel at A&O Shearman, where she worked for more than eight years. Chiang served as a licensing officer at OFAC during 2009-2012.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., said Oct. 30 that she intends to work with the Trump administration, including the State and Treasury departments, to ensure that the U.N. fully carries out plans to reimpose "snapback” sanctions on Iran.
Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on China, announced Oct. 30 that they're introducing a companion to a Senate bill that would require U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips to make their products available to American firms before selling them to China and other "countries of concern."
The U.K. on Oct. 30 amended an Iran-related sanctions entry for Aliakbar Ansari, who was listed for "providing economic resources" to the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Lukoil, the major Russian energy company sanctioned by the U.S. last week (see 2510220050), has accepted an offer for its international business, Lukoil International GmbH, to be bought by Gunvor Group, a multinational energy commodities trading company, Lukoil announced Oct. 30. It said the agreement depends on Gunvor obtaining "permission" from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, "as well as any other applicable licenses, permits and other authorizations in other applicable jurisdictions."