The U.S. and allies are considering imposing sanctions (see 2008270042) against Belarusian officials related to that country’s rigged elections, including the recent “abduction” and forced expulsion of Alexander Lukashenko’s political opponents, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Although the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control already imposed some Belarusian sanctions, Pompeo said Sept. 8 he is considering “additional targeted sanctions to promote accountability for those involved in human rights abuses.”
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas was fined nearly $600,000 for violating the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Ukraine-related sanctions, OFAC said in a Sept. 9 notice. OFAC said the New York bank processed payments for a sanctioned oil company in Cyprus and an investment bank on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The violations were caused by poor due diligence and an incorrectly calibrated screening tool, OFAC said.
China is growing increasingly confrontational on trade issues and may be more willing to respond to U.S. sanctions with restrictions of its own, experts told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Sept. 9. As China mulls retaliation against the U.S., the Trump administration should focus on areas in which it has leverage over China by continuing to push for purchases under the phase one trade deal and restrict Chinese attempts to develop advanced technologies, the experts said.
A United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation notice, updated Sept. 3, details its annual frozen asset review and reporting form for 2020. All people or companies that hold or control funds belonging to sanctioned individuals must complete the and submit the form to OFSI by Oct. 16.
The U.S. seized two websites run by a U.S.-sanctioned foreign terrorist organization, the Justice Department said Sept. 2. The websites, Aletejahtv.com and Aletejahtv.org, belonged to Kata’ib Hizballah, “an Iran-backed terrorist group active in Iraq,” which the Office of Foreign Assets Control listed in 2009 as a Specially Designated National. The group used the websites to publish videos and articles designed to “further Kata’ib Hizballah’s agenda,” the Justice Department said. P. Lee Smith, a top official within the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement, said the group was using U.S.-based online networks “to promote Iran backed terrorist propaganda.”
Four people, including a civilian employee of the Navy working as an engineer, were arrested for their involvement in a scheme to illegally download and sell export controlled technical drawings of U.S. military systems, the Department of Justice said Sept. 2. Navy engineer Mark Fitting of Berlin, New Jersey, allegedly worked with Lighthouse Point, Florida, resident Melony Erice to sell the drawings to Newport Beach, California-based Newport Aeronautical Sales Corp. (NASC), which later resold the documents to foreign customers, the agency said. Fitting and Erice allegedly sold at least 5,000 technical manuals and drawings to NASC, working with NASC employees George Posey and Dean Mirabal, both of Costa Mesa, California, who also were arrested.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. company $55,000 for illegally exporting rifle scopes to Canada, a Sept. 3 order said. The company, New York-based Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC, shipped the scopes on 10 separate occasions despite knowing that the exports were subject to the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said. The company did not seek a license from BIS for the shipments, valued at nearly $890,000 combined. Carl Zeiss must pay the fine by Oct. 1 or risk having its export privileges revoked.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 8 sanctioned two former Lebanese government officials for corruption and supporting Hezbollah. The designations target former Lebanese minister of transportation and public works Yusuf Finyanus and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil. OFAC also added identifying information for Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, who was sanctioned Sept. 4 (see 2009040023).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 31-Sept. 4 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Trump administration is considering placing export controls on China’s top chipmaker, the latest move in a campaign of restrictions aimed at Chinese technology companies. The controls would target the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation by placing it on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, Reuters said in a Sept. 4 report. The effort is being spearheaded by the Defense Department, the report said, which petitioned Commerce’s End User Committee last week to add SMIC to the Entity List.