Huawei doesn’t expect to make rapid progress with President Joe Biden's administration on U.S. sanctions, Rotating Chairman Eric Xu told analysts April 12 in a streamed presentation. Huawei faces challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitics and U.S. sanctions, Xu said. Meanwhile, Biden hosted executives from AT&T, Google, Intel, automakers and other tech companies for a virtual discussion of supply chain issues. Xu said the U.S. is responsible for supply disruptions.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued new guidance and frequently asked questions for the increased export controls against Russia announced in March (see 2103170022). The April 12 guidance provides a summary of the changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and answers common questions about impacts to export licenses, license reviews and which activities are caught by the restrictions.
Several countries aligned with the European Union's extension on two sets of sanctions on Ukrainian individuals and entities for undermining the Eastern European nation's sovereignty. The EU found Montenegro, Albania, Norway, Ukraine and Moldova aligned with its move to extend certain sanctions until March 6, 2022. Montenegro, Albania and Norway aligned with the action to extend until Sept. 15, 2021, the measures on 14 individuals and 13 Ukrainian entities.
The European Council extended until April 13, 2022, its sanctions on Iran for the nation's serious human rights violations, a press release said. The EC also added eight individuals and three entities to the sanctions list for their roles in the violent response to November 2019 protests in Iran, bringing the totals to 89 individuals and four entities. The sanctions consist of a travel ban and an asset freeze along with a ban on exports to Iran of equipment that can be used for human rights violations and equipment for monitoring telecommunications.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 12 issued revised guidance for submitting certain license applications and for the agency’s Sudan sanctions program. In frequently asked questions 97 and 98, OFAC provided guidance for how exporters can submit license applications under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 and what information should be included in those applications. In FAQ 500, OFAC clarified that exporters of humanitarian goods, including agricultural commodities and medicine, don’t need an OFAC license to ship to Sudan. In FAQ 836, the agency detailed which Sudanese sanctions were lifted as a result of the December 2020 U.S. decision to rescind Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism (see 2012170015 and 2101140018). OFAC stressed that the revocation of the sanctions doesn’t affect agency enforcement investigations into violations that took place before the sanctions were revoked.
The U.S. and China saw an uptick in trade restrictions during the first few months of 2021, and companies should expect more compliance challenges as they continue to contend with a variety of export controls and sanctions issues from both countries, law firms said.
The trade policy counsel at a free markets-oriented think tank said that the hike in tariffs on 70% of what we import from China has increased costs on consumers, led to an estimated 300,000 fewer jobs, and didn't achieve its aims. “That might have been worth it if China were making wholesale changes to its commercial policies, but the early indications are not positive,” Clark Packard said during an R Street Institute webinar April 9. Packard said that staffers on Capitol Hill accept his argument that tariffs are damaging to the U.S. economy, but they say that not doing anything to respond to China's quest for economic domination is not an answer.
The White House plans to hold a summit with the semiconductor industry today, April 12, to address the global semiconductor shortage and other supply chain issues. The meeting will include representatives from 20 major companies, including carmakers General Motors and Ford, chip companies GlobalFoundries and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and several major technology companies, including Alphabet, Dell Technologies and Intel, the White House said April 9. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo also will participate.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the Abid Ali Khan Transnational Criminal Organization for the “unlawful smuggling of foreign nationals,” the agency said. OFAC also sanctioned Pakistani national Abid Ali Khan, the group's leader, and three of his associates: Redi Hussein Khal Gul, Shakeel Karim and Mohammed Choudry Ikram Waraich. The agency announced the sanctions April 7 (see 2104070033).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended the base civil penalty amount for certain sanctions violations to reflect inflation adjustments for its civil monetary penalties, it said in a notice. The change, effective April 12, revises the definition for OFAC’s “applicable schedule amount,” which establishes a base penalty for non-egregious sanctions violations cases that do not involve a voluntary self-disclosure. For transactions valued at $200,000 or more, the applicable schedule amount will be $311,562, which is the maximum civil monetary penalty amount for a violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, OFAC said. The agency said these changes were not required but done so that its base penalties “correspond appropriately” to OFAC’s civil monetary penalties, which are adjusted annually for inflation. OFAC last revised the applicable schedule amount definition in August 2020 (see 2008100012).