The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people for supporting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s regime as it undermines democracy and violates human rights, the agency said June 9. The sanctions target Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, the coordinator of the Creative Economy Commission and daughter of Ortega; Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua; National Assembly Deputy Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera; and Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares, a brigadier general in the Nicaraguan Army and executive director of the Military Social Welfare Institute. OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said the agency will “continue to expose those officials who continue to ignore the will of its citizens.”
President Joe Biden issued a June 8 executive order expanding sanctions authorities against people involved in human rights abuses or threatening the security of the Western Balkans. The order “expands the designation criteria” to authorize sanctions against corruption in the region and “other actions that obstruct key institutions and international agreements,” a fact sheet said. The Treasury Department will issue the sanctions in consultation with the State Department, the order said, and will allow the U.S. to target a broader range of actors that threaten the “peace, security, stability, or territorial integrity” of the Western Balkans. In a letter to Congress, the White House said the order specifically “broadens the geographic scope of the existing sanctions regime” to cover Albania.
Dan Ikenson, who spent decades in trade policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he defended China's behavior for years after it joined the World Trade Organization. "I was in favor of welcoming China into the trading system," he said. But now, Ikenson said during a June 9 webinar hosted by the R Street Institute, he has come to see that China's last 15 years of state-directed capitalism produced enormous externalities. He said some of those externalities include the rise of populism, the political rejection of free trade, and even, in part, the presidency of Donald Trump.
As President Joe Biden searches for a leader for the Bureau of Industry and Security, the agency should prioritize candidates who are familiar with export control regulations and who can effectively manage the agency’s licensing process, two technology experts said. But others said Biden should choose a candidate with strong knowledge of the challenges imposed by China to help lead U.S. technology policy through an era of intense competition.
National competent authorities may authorize the release of funds frozen under European Union sanctions to satisfy the terms of a preexisting financial guarantee, the European Commission said in a June 2 opinion. An NCA had asked the European Union to determine whether funds subject to the Central African Republic sanctions regime could be used to pay a guarantee. The commission found that the use of frozen funds toward a guarantee amounts to a “payment” under Article 9, which says funds can be unfrozen to make payments due before the listing. Provided that all the conditions of Article 9 are met, the guarantee can be fulfilled “without the consent of or against the Designated Person.” Ultimately, the commission said, it is up to the NCA to determine if the conditions are fulfilled and, in particular, whether the payment of the guarantee was due before the sanctions.
The European Union's ambassador to the U.S. said that as the world watches the European Union-U.S. summit in a week, they will be looking to see that “we are capable of resolving quickly and effectively our bilateral trade irritants.” He said they also want to see “that we can work and will work together to address the new challenges that sit on the nexus of technology and trade and security.” He said that export controls and cyber security measures are some of the ways to address those challenges, and there should be an announcement at the conference on those matters.
The United Kingdom amended its export control laws regarding defense-related goods to reflect revisions made to the Wassenaar Arrangement munitions list. According to a June 8 guidance, changes were made to Schedule 2 (military goods, software and technology) and Schedule 3 (U.K. controlled dual-use goods, software and technology). The Schedule 2 changes consist of revised definitions and changes to ML1, ML2, ML6, ML8, ML10, ML11, ML13, ML15, ML17, ML18 and ML21. The Schedule 3 alterations are changes to definitions and to PL9009, according to the release. The alterations took effect June 7.
Shannon Barley, a Census Bureau official who works on export-related issues, will soon leave her division and transfer elsewhere within Census, she said in a June 8 email. Barley worked with Kiesha Downs, chief of Census’ Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, on the agency’s routed export control effort (see 2012080046), the proposed elimination of export filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico (see 2104230025) and other export-related regulations. She will no longer work on the Federal Trade Regulations in her new position as a program analyst in the decennial census division. She starts her new role June 21.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for June 1-4 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Semiconductors are a major plank of the broad supply chain vulnerability report released by the White House, and the report tries to grapple with the fact that major U.S. manufacturers are reliant on exports to China and that the U.S. and its allies want to maintain a technology edge over Chinese chip manufacturers.