China and the EU held the "10th EU-China High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue" on Sept. 25, discussing the effect of Russia's war in Ukraine on global economics, food and energy security. Also discussed were "EU concerns on access to the Chinese market," prospects for rebalancing the EU-China trade relationship "on the basis of transparency," and predictability and reciprocity, the European Commission said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 people, nine of which are “Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and fugitives” responsible for “fentanyl and other illicit drug trafficking,” the Treasury Department said in a Sept. 26 news release. Those nine people are Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benitez, Leobardo Garcia Corrales, Martin Garcia Corrales, Liborio Nunez Aguirre, Samuel Leon Alvarado, Carlos Mario Limon Vazquez, Jimenez Castro, Dominguez Hernandez, and Vibanco Garcia. The tenth sanctioned person is Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, a Colombian national and leader of the Clan del Golfo, which supplies cocaine to major drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel.
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Rising U.S.-China tensions are causing all-time highs in uncertainty and pessimism for U.S. companies doing business in China, and are driving U.S. companies to reduce investment in China in record numbers, according to an annual member survey released by the U.S.-China Business Council on Sept. 26. More than a third of companies said they have either stopped investing in China or have scaled back.
Members of a new export enforcement partnership recently formed by the Five Eyes countries released new guidance Sept. 26 for industry and academia on countering evasion of export controls and sanctions on Russia.
Senate Republicans last week reintroduced a bill that could require the U.S. to sanction all Russian state-owned companies. The bill, titled the Halting Enrichment of Russian Oligarchs and Industry Allies of Moscow’s Schemes to Leverage its Abject Villainy Abroad Act, would require the president to impose the sanctions 60 days after the legislation is enacted. “We have a moral duty, and it’s in our national security interest, to do everything in our power to limit any U.S. funds that enrich the pockets of the Russian regime,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who reintroduced the bill alongside Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.
The CEOs of two major European multinationals called for the simplification and increased coordination of sanctions at a forum held by the Atlantic Council last week. Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, said the implementation of Russia sanctions, and the latest EU sanctions package in particular (see 2306230013), has “triggered such a bureaucracy,” with “a degree of minutia that is killing small companies.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 28 entities to the Entity List this week for various reasons, all falling under the umbrella of “acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.” The final rule, effective Sept. 27, adds entities in China, Finland, Germany, Oman, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. It also modifies entries for two entities and removes a Military End User List entity.
Bill Root, a former U.S. export control official and frequent contributor to the Commerce Department’s technical advisory committees, celebrated his 100th birthday Sept. 20. Root was a Naval officer, a State Department official and the head of the U.S. delegation to the now-defunct Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls, among other roles with the federal government.
The U.K. issued a new general license under all its sanctions regimes allowing sanctioned parties, except those sanctioned by the U.N., to take funds from frozen bank accounts in the U.K. to be used for utility payments for water or sewerage services. Any party can make a payment to a water company for or on behalf of a sanctioned entity or individual, and water companies are allowed to receive the payments, the license said. The water companies can also make return payments to frozen bank accounts. The license runs through Sept. 20, 2025.