The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted more than 20 entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List this week, including people and entities tied to Switzerland, Venezuela, Malta, Panama, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and elsewhere.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published a memorandum of understanding with the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation that the two agencies are using to share information about national security threats and collaborate on sanctions enforcement and compliance. The memorandum, dated October 2024, builds on a partnership the two sides started in 2022, which has included swapping officials as part of an employee embed program, working together on sanctions guidance and better harmonizing their designations (see 2411190025 and 2311170038).
The U.S. this week sanctioned The Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group that promotes violent white supremacism and solicits attacks on critical infrastructure and government officials through social media and the digital messaging platform Telegram, the State Department said. The U.S. also sanctioned three of the group’s leaders: Brazil-based Ciro Daniel Amorim Ferreira, Croatia-based Noah Licul and South Africa-based Hendrik-Wahl Muller.
A new Bureau of Industry and Security rule that will place new, worldwide export controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence model weights was widely panned by the American semiconductor and technology industry this week, even as U.S. officials said the restrictions are necessary to keep American companies ahead of their Chinese competitors.
Japan is placing new trade restrictions on Russia, including export controls over certain audio equipment, engines and parts for “special vehicles,” such as cranes and small motorcycles, the country’s trade minister said during a Jan. 10 press conference, according to an unofficial translation. Japan will also take "measures to prevent indirect exports” to Russia being sent by companies in third countries. “We will continue to cooperate with the international community, including the G7, and take all possible measures to implement sanctions against Russia,” the minister said. “The details will be explained by the secretariat at a later date.”
DOJ last week released the fourth and final part in a series of reports on criminal gun trafficking, part of an effort by the Biden administration to collect and analyze more data to prevent the illegal movement of firearms. The report, published by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said there was a 298% increase in the total number of regulated firearms and weapons exported annually from 2000 to 2022, followed by a 21% decrease in those same shipments between 2022 and 2023. It added that 4,317 “recovered crime guns” were traced to legal exports in 2023, more than in any year since 2020. It also said two of the most frequently exported firearms have been pistols and machine guns.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., reintroduced a bill Jan. 9 that would impose sanctions on Chinese police departments that operate in the U.S. or try to do so. His Expel Illegal Chinese Police Act also would sanction those who monitor or intimidate people in the U.S. on behalf of the Chinese Community Party’s United Front Work Department. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Cotton previously introduced the legislation in early December, near the end of the 118th Congress (see 2412040035).
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department Jan. 9 to update its regulations to require U.S. biopharmaceutical entities to obtain an export license before working with a Chinese military hospital for clinical trials.
The U.K. on. Jan. 9 amended the sanctions listing for transportation company Zapchasttrade LLP under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI updated the company's business regulation number.
The U.K. sanctioned suspected domestic terrorist group Blood and Honour on Jan. 8, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI said the group is "facilitating, promoting and encouraging terrorism via its dissemination of music whose content promotes and encourages terrorism" and also generates funds for terrorism through "events it arranges for the purposes of furthering its own terrorist activities." OFSI also said the group conducts "recruitment activities" for terrorism purposes.