The U.S. should place export controls and investment restrictions on Chinese drone maker Autel Robotics, which has ties to the country’s military and uses parts from at least one other Chinese company on the Entity List, the leaders of the House Select Committee on China said in a letter last week to the Biden administration. The lawmakers also said they’re concerned that the Chinese government uses Autel’s technology for human rights abuses in Xinjiang and that the company sells its products to Russia.
The EU General Court on Nov. 29 rejected Russian oligarch German Khan's challenge to his sanctions listing, according to an unofficial translation. The listing criteria had a proper legal basis and were not disproportional, the court said.
The State Department should “immediately” update its Cuba Restricted List to capture affiliates of listed entities that are evading U.S. sanctions, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a Nov. 28 letter to the agency. Although the list was created in 2017 to block U.S. people and companies from doing business with Cuban government-controlled entities, those entities have since created “dozens of new hotels and companies that fall outside the scope” the restrictions, Rubio said.
Senate Republicans reintroduced a bill this week that would sanction the Yemen-based Houthi militant group as a foreign terrorist organization, reversing a Biden administration decision in 2021 to revoke the group’s designation (see 2102100016). The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and sponsored by six other Republicans, would subject the Houthis to strict financial blocking measures and sanction the group’s leaders. The Biden administration revoked the sanctions because of concerns the measures were hindering humanitarian aid to the region.
A House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy and Regulatory Affairs hearing focused on the need for more domestic mining of critical minerals, but administration witnesses noted that imports -- and subsidizing processing of domestically mined minerals -- are just as essential to uninterrupted supply.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three Mexican people and 13 Mexican companies for their links to a timeshare fraud scam led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion. The action marks the third since March against people and companies involved in the timeshare scheme (see 2303020047 and 2304270064),” OFAC said in a news release. The new designations target Teresa De Jesus Alvarado Rubio, Manuel Alejandro Foubert Cadena and Gabriela Del Villar Contreras, as well as companies controlled by them. OFAC also sanctioned Grupo Empresarial Epta, a company purportedly engaged in real estate activities, the agency said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned eight North Korean agents for their work facilitating sanctions evasion – six of them based in third countries – in an action the agency said comes in response to a recent military reconnaissance satellite launch by North Korea. The North Korean agents, including Russia-based Un Hyok Choe and Myong So, China-based Myong Chol Jang and Phyong Guk Kang, and Iran-based Kyong Il Kang and Sung Il Ri, engage in revenue generation and missile-related technology procurement in support of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, OFAC said.
Republican leaders of the House Financial Services Committee urged Congress this week to exclude a measure from the upcoming 2024 defense spending bill that could lead to new guardrails around U.S. outbound investments into China. They said existing sanctions and export control measures are sufficient to target Chinese military and technology companies, and any new investment restrictions would only limit American “control, influence, and intelligence gathering” in China.
The European Council on Nov. 29 passed a negotiating mandate for the council president to start talks with the European Parliament on new rules for the "import, export and transit of firearms into and from the EU," the council announced. The mandate says the rules must look to close the loopholes for firearm trafficking while easing trade of firearms for "legitimate purposes."
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a final rule this week to delay the deadline for newly created companies to comply with its new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements (see 2308160023). The change, proposed in September, extends that deadline from 30 days to 90 days after the company is created, and it applies only to companies created or registered on or after Jan. 1, 2024, and before Jan. 1, 2025. FinCEN said the extension will give those entities more time to understand the new reporting obligations, which aims to provide more information to law enforcement and national security agencies as they look to prevent sanctioned parties and others from hiding money or property in the U.S. The rule takes effect Jan. 1.