Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 2-6 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she supports adding China’s anti-foreign sanctions law to Hong Kong’s constitution, a move that would potentially add more challenges for global companies trying to navigate U.S. sanctions compliance and China’s business environment.
More than 80 agricultural trade groups are endorsing a bipartisan House bill they say would address unreasonable detention and demurrage practices and ocean carriers’ refusal to carry U.S. exports in favor of imports. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, introduced Aug. 10 by Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., aims to support the “growth” of exporters by holding carriers accountable for their unfair fees and declined export bookings, according to a fact sheet from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
The State Department announced penalties on eight foreign entities and their subsidies for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act, an Aug. 9 notice said. The agency said the entities transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The State Department barred them from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act and will suspend any current export licenses used by the entities. The agency will also bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The restrictions will remain in place for two years from the July 29 effective date.
The House’s top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a bill that would impose new sanctions and export restrictions against foreign governments and people responsible for radio-frequency attacks against U.S. personnel abroad. The Havana Syndrome Attacks Response Act, introduced Aug. 3 by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, would sanction those who the president determines “knowingly directed or carried out these attacks,” which have caused brain injuries to U.S. personnel in Cuba and other countries. The bill would also require the U.S. to restrict certain exports -- including arms sales -- and export licenses for shipments to foreign governments behind the attacks. The export controls would be applied to shipments of items controlled under the Arms Export Control Act, licenses for items on the U.S. Munitions List and other exports pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act. The bill has 15 Republican co-sponsors.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s designations of five people last week (see 2108060043) targeted terrorism leaders in Africa, the State Department said Aug. 6. The sanctions targeted leaders with the Islamic State group, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and al-Shabaab.
President Joe Biden issued a new executive order to expand existing U.S. sanctions authorities against Belarus and issued a host of new designations targeting the country’s government for last year’s “fraudulent” presidential elections. The Aug. 9 order authorizes sanctions against a broad range of government officials, oligarchs, entities and private companies, including those operating in Belarus’ defense, energy, security, potassium chloride, transportation and construction sectors. Sanctions are also authorized against people or entities with links to “public corruption” in Belarus or transactions deemed to be “deceptive or structured” to evade U.S. sanctions on behalf of the Belarusian government.
A California electronics company was fined $6.6 million by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls after it illegally exported technical data and software to more than 15 countries, including China, DDTC said Aug. 9. DDTC said Keysight Technologies, which makes electronic test and measurement equipment and software, committed 24 violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including unauthorized exports while the companies still had an outstanding commodity jurisdiction request pending with the State Department.
The European Council announced that certain third countries aligned themselves on Aug. 6 with the council's decision to extend the EU terrorist list for a further six months. Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Liechtenstein will also extend the list that established restrictive measures against 14 individuals and 21 entities (see 2107200023). The sanctions, reviewed at least every six months, are now set to expire in January 2022. The terrorist list is separate from the EU's al-Qaida and ISIL sanctions regime.
A group of House Republicans called on the Commerce Department to add Chinese smartphone maker Honor Device Co. Ltd. to the Entity List and asked for a briefing with the agency’s End-User Review Committee to ensure the administration is “moving with enough speed” on export controls. Because Huawei sold Honor Device Co., the company can access technology that “should be restricted,” the lawmakers said in an Aug. 6 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.