New U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to China likely will have a “truly devastating impact” on China’s access to advanced semiconductors within the next three years, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in an Oct. 27 report. Even though China has been expecting the controls and has stockpiled some chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, those stockpiles will eventually “dwindle” and the country “will likely be forced to step backward in technological time and use less advanced chips that the industry has long since moved past,” the report said.
The Biden administration could soon lift certain sanctions against Venezuela as it recalibrates its strategy toward the country amid global oil shortages, experts said. But they also said it remains unclear if those moves will entice President Nicolas Maduro regime to hold free and fair elections or stop committing human rights violations.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned themselves with recent EU sanctions moves under the restrictions regimes pertaining to Ukraine and those threatening the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council announced Oct. 26. On Oct. 20, the council added three Iranian individuals and one entity to the Ukraine sanctions regime for supplying the Russian army with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also implemented the decision, the council said.
DOJ's recent moves charging 11 individuals and various corporate entities for their roles in schemes to evade U.S. sanctions and export controls on Russia signal the government's continuing efforts to "aggressively enforce" restrictions on Russia, law firm Paul Weiss said in an analysis posted online Oct. 26. As a result, multilateral corporations with international supply chains need to ramp up compliance measures and be aware that international cooperation has expanded the reach of U.S. sanctions enforcement, the firm said.
Semiconductor company KLA is expecting the U.S.’s new export controls on China (see 2210070049) to hurt its revenue and is looking at moving its products to customers not subject to the restrictions, CEO Rick Wallace said during an Oct. 26 earnings call. The company is preparing for up to a $900 million revenue hit in 2023, but Wallace also stressed the company is uncertain how much its operations will be affected until it receives more guidance from the Commerce Department.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is confident it will soon convince allies to adopt similar semiconductor export controls on China, Undersecretary Alan Estevez said, adding that he expects some type of “multilateral deal” finalized in the “near term.” Estevez, speaking during an Oct. 27 event hosted by the Center for a New American Security, also said BIS isn’t “done” imposing chip-related controls and said companies should expect new restrictions on emerging technologies, including on biotechnologies, artificial intelligence software and items in the quantum sector.
The U.K.'s overseas territories have frozen Russian assets worth over an estimated $9 billion, including $8.4 billion by the Cayman Islands and over $400 million by the British Virgin Islands, the British government said Oct. 26. Releasing its response to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee June 2022 report, "The cost of complacency: illicit finance and the war in Ukraine," the government also said crown dependencies have frozen assets worth over $1.15 billion, including nearly $2.2 million by the Isle of Man and nearly $5.8 million by Guernsey.
The Paris Court of Appeals ordered the French government to release an impounded yacht owned by EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev due to procedural errors made during the vessel's seizure, according to an unofficial translation. Kuzmichev is one of the main shareholders of Russia's Alfa Bank. French customs seized the yacht, called La Petite Ourse, in March following Kuzmichev's addition to the sanctions list. The yacht was moored in Antibes. The French court said the customs agents did not follow correct procedure when searching the vessel, incorrectly relying on an authority that permitted a search in connection with suspected fraud.
The EU released updated guidance on the provision of business services under its Russia sanctions regime, adding an overview table of the EU restrictions on services. The European Commission added five questions to its FAQs about business services, covering how the sectoral scope for IT consultancy services is defined, whether the measures on IT consultancy services hamper the conditions of civil society organization in Russia, which software updates are exempted from the ban on IT consultancy services, what activities are covered on the architectural and engineering services ban and what activities are covered by the ban on legal advisory services.
The EU dropped three individuals from its Burundi sanctions list while extending the list for another year, the European Council announced Oct. 25. Chief Police Commissioner Godefroid Bizimana, Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca and Leonard Ngendakumana, a former army general, were removed from the sanctions regime, leaving only Joseph Niyonzima, a National Intelligence Service officer, subject to the restrictions. The council cited the advancements made by Burundi in the areas of "human rights, good governance and rule of law" but still expressed concern over certain challenges in these areas. The Burundi sanctions regime was extended until Oct. 31, 2023.