The U.S. should be doing more to restrict Chinese semiconductor companies from buying U.S. equipment, which is strengthening China’s military and ceding U.S. technology leadership, researchers said. Although the U.S. should bolster domestic policies to help the semiconductor industry -- including through supply chain, manufacturing and research incentives (see 2102240052) -- the researchers said the Commerce Department’s export controls include loopholes for companies that sell advanced technologies to China.
The recent U.S. decision to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia, although largely narrow, could have significant implications for exporters doing business in Russia, law firms said. U.S. companies should pay close attention to new restrictions on certain controlled services and the potential impacts of the restrictions on disclosure and reporting requirements, the firms said.
The European Union instituted an asset freeze and travel ban on 11 Myanmar officials over their role in the military coup and subsequent police repression against peaceful protesters, the European Council announced in a March 22 news release. Ten of the 11 sanctioned individuals are in the top ranks of the Myanmar armed forces, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win. The lone nonmilitary individual is chairperson of the Union Election Commission for his role in scrapping the country's 2020 election results. The EU is pairing these sanctions with a pledge to withhold financial assistance going to the Myanmar government and to continue intensive diplomatic outreach.
The European Union is likely set to block COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the United Kingdom until vaccine developer AstraZeneca fulfills the terms of its contracts with the bloc, according to a senior EU official, Bloomberg reported. The move would mark an escalation in a battle for inoculations since AstraZeneca informed the bloc that it would not be able to deliver the amount of vaccines it promised for the first quarter, the report said. AstraZeneca is now expected to deliver only half of what it initially committed to by the end or March, promising 30 million shots to the EU.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to statements by the ultimate consignee and purchaser of U.S. exports, it said in a notice. The collection involves Form BIS-711, which provides information on the foreign importer receiving the U.S. technology and how the technology will be utilized, and “provides assurances” that the technology will not be used in violation of the Export Administration Regulations. Comments are due May 24.
Ten Iranian nationals are charged with running a 20-year scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran by disguising more than $300 million worth of transactions, the Department of Justice said in a March 19 news release. The Iranian citizens allegedly made the purchases, including two $25 million oil tankers, on Iran's behalf via front companies in Los Angeles, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, DOJ said. The U.S. District Court of Los Angeles case, filed in October 2020, was unsealed on March 19. A separate forfeiture complaint was filed the same day on the same individuals, seeking a money laundering penalty of $157,332,367. The individuals are accused of violating the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. They face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, although they are believed to be located outside the U.S.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two people and two entities connected to the Myanmar military and its “violent repression” on pro-democracy protests, OFAC said March 22. The sanctions target Than Hlaing, a leader of Myanmar’s police force; military official Aung Soe; the 33rd Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army; and the 77th Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army.
The European Union sanctioned 11 individuals and four entities for human rights violations in various countries, the European Council announced in a March 22 news release. The 15 designations, along with the sanctioning of four Russian individuals in early March, constitute the first major listings under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and include individuals and entities from China, North Korea, Libya, Russia, South Sudan and Eritrea. In its first step against Eritrea since fighting began over Ethiopia's Tigray region, the EU sanctioned the nation's National Security Office for extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests. The other sanctions target a Chinese entity (see 2103220034), the Central Public Prosecutor's Office in North Korea and Kaniyat Militia in Libya.
The U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada announced sanctions against China for human rights abuses in an internationally coordinated effort to condemn China’s treatment of its Uyghur population. The sanctions, announced March 22, target officials and an entity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for leading the repression and detention of Muslim minorities.
The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade released a business guidance to exporters of military or dual-use technology on the definitions and scope of the technology in question along with export control concerns. The March 18 publication answers a litany of questions including to whom the export controls apply, the basis of export controls on technology, the definition and scope of the relevant technology, the scope of technology transfer in question, export controls exemptions and the relevant export licenses. The guidance opened broadly, laying out the types of technology covered under the export control regime. Generally, the pertinent technology includes blueprints, plans, diagrams, models, formulae, tables, engineering designs and manuals relating to WMD, certain arms embargoes and unauthorized military exports.