Huawei was involved in illegally sending U.S.-origin computer equipment to Iran, according to a March 2 Reuters report. Reuters said it reviewed two Huawei “packing lists” from 2010 that show Huawei sent equipment made by Hewlett-Packard Co. destined for Iran’s largest mobile phone carrier. The documents provide the “strongest documentary evidence to date” of Huawei violating U.S. sanctions despite claims from Huawei that it has not violated sanctions, Reuters said.
In the Feb. 25 - March 3 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ Defense Export Control and Compliance System will be unavailable March 4 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. EST for system maintenance, the DDTC said March 3. The DDTC urged users to ensure “work in progress is saved” before the scheduled downtime. The DECCS launched Feb. 18 (see 2002190025).
Two Chinese nationals sanctioned by the Treasury Department were charged with laundering more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Justice Department said March 2. Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong, who were added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List earlier this week (see 2003020042), were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, the Justice Department said. They allegedly worked with North Korean cyber hackers, who stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency, and never registered with the U.S.’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network despite conducting business in the U.S.
The U.S.-Swiss joint mechanism intended to provide companies a path to exporting humanitarian goods to Iran may not convince risk-averse banks and businesses to export to the country, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a Feb 28 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Although the mechanism, which became operational Feb. 27 (see 2002270017), sets high due-diligence standards for users, the State Department expects more exporters to begin using it after announcing the first transaction through the system in January (see 2001300020).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 24-28 in case you missed them.
The U.S. should lobby for increased export controls and more stringent sanctions regimes relating to weapons proliferation at the upcoming Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, arms control experts said during a March 3 House hearing. While it may be difficult for all treaty members to sign off on a broad consensus document relating to non-proliferation, the U.S. should use the spring conference in New York to seek common ground on controls of items used to produce dangerous weapons.
The annual trade policy agenda report, put out by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, celebrated victories in export market access in 2019, even as it reported that goods exports fell by $21 billion compared with 2018. Manufacturing exports, which accounted for 83% of total goods exports, were down by $34.7 billion in 2019. Agricultural exports, which accounted for 9% of total goods exports, were down by $3 billion in 2019.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended two entries on its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida sanctions list, according to a March 2 notice. The changes affected the entries for the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Islamic State West Africa Province. The two groups were sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council in February (see 2002260038).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Chinese nationals who laundered stolen cryptocurrency, Treasury said in a March 2 news release. The two people, Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong, were responsible for a 2018 “cyber intrusion” linked to Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored “malicious cyber group” sanctioned in September for cyber espionage and data theft (see 1909130039). Tian and Li were also designated for providing financial, material or technological support for Lazarus Group.