If elected, Joe Biden will likely continue the U.S.’s strict export control and sanctions policy against China, Venezuela and Russia but may reverse U.S. sanctions against Iran, said Johann Strauss, a trade lawyer with Akin Gump. Biden would also approach trade restrictions more multilaterally as opposed to Trump’s tendency to pursue unilateral restrictions, Strauss said.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued its quarterly report to Parliament on its operation of the U.K. asset freezing regime, an Oct. 14 notice said. The report contains statistics and information on U.K. sanctions January through March 2020.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended one entry under its chemical weapons sanctions and two under its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions, Oct. 14 notices said. One amended entry is for Said Said, a “significant figure” in Syria’s chemical weapons programs. The U.K. also amended entries for Jamal Hussein Hassan Zeiniye, leader of the Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, and Sa'd Bin Sa'd Muhammad Shariyan Al-Ka’Bi under its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions.
Switzerland joined the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union and others (see 2010050010 and 2009300011) in imposing sanctions against Belarus for the country’s rigged presidential election, the EU Sanctions blog said in a post Oct. 14. Switzerland sanctioned the same 40 officials the EU designated earlier this month. The officials will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.
The European Union and the United Kingdom sanctioned six Russian Federation officials and one entity for the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, they said in Oct. 15 news releases. The sanctions target Andrei Veniaminovich Yarin, Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, Sergei Ivanovich Menyailo, Aleksandr Vasilievich Bortnikov, Pavel Anatolievich Popov and Aleksei Yurievich Krivoruchko. The sanctions also target Russia’s State Scientific Research Institute for Organic Chemistry and Technology.
The European Union on Oct. 15 sanctioned a Russian businessman for violating the United Nations arms embargo against Libya. The sanctions target Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, who has “close links” to the Wagner Group, the EU said, a Russian paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. The EU said Prigozhin supports the group’s activities in Libya, including delivering weapons and sending mercenaries into the country. He also is a funder of the Russian Internet Research Agency, which is trying to influence the U.S. presidential election,
The White House released a national strategy for critical and emerging technologies that it said will better synchronize agency efforts amid technology competition with China. The strategy builds on export control efforts carried out by the Commerce Department, a senior administration official said, and will allow government offices to better align their strategies as the U.S. restricts Chinese access to sensitive U.S. technologies.
Canada suspended exports of certain military items to Turkey while Canada investigates whether its technologies are being used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the country is “concerned by the ongoing conflict” and the possibility of Canadian military technologies being used in the region. “In line with Canada’s robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey, so as to allow time to further assess the situation,” Champagne said in an Oct. 5 statement.
The Census Bureau issued a guidance on Oct. 8 on the mandatory filing requirements outlined in the Bureau of Industry and Security's April rule on military-related exports (see 2006250026). Census said it received a “number” of questions on the rule, which increased due diligence requirements for certain exports to China, Russia and Venezuela and requires certain Electronic Export Information filings for some exports captured under the rule (see 2004270027).
The U.S. needs a “technology-specific” trade policy as it pursues export controls over emerging technologies to limit impacts on industry, the Strategic Trade Research Institute and the University of Maryland Center for International and Security Studies said in a report released Oct. 13. The report analyzes three categories of items that it calls “chokepoint technologies” -- position, navigation and timing (PNT), quantum computing, and computer vision -- and examines the feasibility of trade controls on each category. The report stresses that while some items, including PNT technologies, can be controlled, others, such as computer vision technologies, are widely commercially available and should not be restricted.