The State Department will extend a “temporary modification” to the U.S. Munitions List that is intended to provide clarity to U.S. exporters about certain language in the USML, the agency said in a final rule released Aug. 26. The modification, which was scheduled to expire Aug. 30 but will now remain through Aug. 30, 2026, revised USML Category XI to clarify that “certain intelligence-analytics software” is controlled under the USML. Although the State Department said it “continues to develop a long-term solution” to address the language, that solution “will not be in place when the current temporary modification expires.” Extending the expiration date for five years is in the “best interest” of the U.S. defense industry so that the language can be revised as part of a “wholesale revision” of USML Category XI, the agency said.
Several Republican lawmakers criticized the Biden administration this week for reportedly (see 2108250018) granting export licenses for companies to ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of auto chips to Huawei. The licenses reportedly were approved within the past several months and authorized only exports of auto chips, which are viewed as less sensitive than other types of semiconductor-related items.
The State Department this week sent a final rule for interagency review that would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to create definitions for activities that are not exports, reexports or retransfers. The rule would create definitions for a range of activities, including launching items into space, providing technical data to U.S. people within the U.S. or within a single country abroad, and moving defense articles between states, possessions and U.S. territories.
Iran recently resumed fuel exports to Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover, Reuters reported Aug. 23. The new Afghan government reportedly asked Iran to resume the fuel shipments because it feels it can openly buy sanctioned Iranian oil now that the U.S. military has withdrawn from the region. In response, Iran lifted a ban on fuel exports to Afghanistan that had been in place since Aug. 6, which stemmed from “concerns about the safety of trading in the country,” the report said. The Taliban also reportedly agreed to cut tariffs on imports of fuel from Iran and other neighboring countries.
Hong Viet Production Trading Service Joint Stock Co. and Montrose Consulting Co., both based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, saw their import and exporting rights suspended by the HCM City Customs Department following the late payment of taxes, state-run publication CustomsNews said Aug. 25. The local tax department is requesting around $170,000 from Hong Viet Production and $11,000 from Montrose Consulting, leading to the suspension of customs clearance procedures for the companies. “Many companies paid taxes after the local department enforced sanctions,” CustomsNews said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a general license that authorizes U.S. academic institutions to exports certain “online educational services” and software to Iran, the agency said Aug. 24. General License M-1, which replaces General License M (see 2010290043), was extended through 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 1, 2022. The original license was scheduled to expire Sept. 1, 2021.
A proposal to use a carbon border adjustment tax as a pay-for in legislation Congress hopes to pass this fall faces many obstacles, both political and technical. Politically, it must get support from all 50 Democrats in the Senate, including Sen. Joe Manchin, whose home state of West Virginia exports about a third of its coal; in some recent years, coal was about half of all exports from the state.
Ukraine implemented sanctions against 13 individuals and 22 entities in a new wave of restrictive measures, made via four decrees from President Volodymyr Zelensky. Among those sanctioned are judges in occupied territory who illegally try Ukrainian citizens, members of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, and mass media registered in occupied Crimea and in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zelensky announced, according to an unofficial translation. Several of those sanctioned also have been designated by the U.S. They include Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian member of parliament, and Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 24 sanctioned three Paraguayan people and five companies for corruption. The sanctions target Kassem Mohamad Hijazi for controlling a money laundering organization and Khalil Ahmad Hijazi and Liz Paola Doldan Gonzalez for working with Kassem Mohamad Hijazi. OFAC also designated the companies Espana Informatica S.A., Mobile Zone International Import-Export S.R.L., Apolo Informatica S.A., Emprendimientos Inmobiliarios Misiones S.A., and Mundo Informatico Paraguay S.A.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asked Japan to release $3 billion worth of Iranian funds that are frozen in Japan because of U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported Aug. 22. Raisi recently asked Japan’s foreign minister to release the funds, which were generated from gas export sales but are frozen due to expansive U.S. sanctions on Iran’s banking and energy sectors, the report said. “The improvement of ties with Japan is of great importance for Iran. ... Any delay in unblocking Iranian assets in Japanese banks is not justified,” Raisi told Japan’s foreign minister, according to the report.