The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated people and entities involved in a smuggling network that funds Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and the Houthis in Yemen, OFAC said June 10. The agency sanctioned seven people, four entities and one vessel, including Iran-based Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal. The network helps generate tens of millions of dollars from the sale of petroleum and other commodities, OFAC said.
The Congressional Research Service on June 7 published a report on U.S. sanctions against Russia, detailing recent designations and moves by the Biden administration to expand sanctions authorities. The report describes current U.S. sanctions targeting Russia for cyber activities, corruption, use of chemical weapons, “coercive use” of energy exports and human rights violations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declined to say whether the Biden administration will continue its strong sanctions against Cuba and suggested the agency's Cuba program may be reworked. Yellen, speaking during a June 10 House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, said Treasury is reviewing its Cuba sanctions as part of a broad agencywide sanctions review begun earlier this year (see 2106070007 and 2105280004).
The Commerce Department is working with a police agency in rural Texas to help investigate illegally exported goods, an unorthodox relationship that has sparked concern among industry lawyers and led to disputed seizures.
Peter Kucik, a former senior sanctions policy adviser at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined public strategy firm Mercury as managing director of its Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced in a June 9 email. At OFAC, Kucik helped establish and implement new regulatory systems for different OFAC programs, including for executive orders, license authorizations and international sanctions.
Russia imposed a travel ban on nine Canadian citizens for their roles in placing sanctions on Russia for its arrest of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a June 7 news release. Canada's sanctions are unlawful and have "contributed to the deterioration of our bilateral relations," the release said.
A law designed to counteract foreign sanctions has been submitted to China's legislature for a second reading, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported June 7. The draft was submitted to China's top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress. The law would strengthen China's “legal toolkit with focus on moves against sanctions and interference and countering long-arm jurisdiction to cope with challenges and risks,” the report said. It said the law responds to an uptick in Western sanctions used as “part of their pretexts to spread rumors on and smear, contain and suppress China.” China recently issued regulations for its unreliable entity list (see 2009210017) and an export control regime (see 2010190033). Former U.S. officials say more trade restrictions laws are likely on the way (see 2012170041)
The State Department again extended a temporary measure to allow employees involved in certain International Traffic in Arms Regulations-related activity to work remotely, the agency said June 9. The measure was first imposed in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2004240017) and was renewed in December after proving popular with industry (see 2012100009). The latest extension, effective June 10, will allow companies to continue using the remote ITAR exemption until the State Department can finalize a rule proposed in May that would make the change permanent (see 2105260008). Comments on that proposed rule are due July 26.
Two senators asked the Treasury Department for an “immediate briefing” on steps the agency is taking to identify foreign banks doing business with sanctioned Chinese officials under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., in their June 8 letter, also requested a briefing on Treasury efforts to target those banks through “evidentiary sanctions packages that can withstand scrutiny” in U.S. courts. In its latest report to Congress, required under the HKAA, Treasury said it hasn’t found evidence of any foreign banks facilitating “significant transactions” for the sanctioned officials (see 2105180032).
The U.S. extended the national emergency authorizing sanctions against Belarus for one year beyond June 16, 2021, the White House said June 8. It said Belarusian government actions “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy.