The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Miami-based real estate firm and its owner more than $1 million after the agency said they helped two sanctioned Russian oligarchs transfer their luxury condominiums to their non-sanctioned family members. The firm, Family International Realty LLC, “engaged in a willful scheme” to evade U.S. sanctions against Russia, OFAC said, and earned about $180,000 in commission fees for helping to manage the properties.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary, said Jan. 16 that the U.S. should institute a “very rigorous screening process” to ensure its outbound investment does not help China catch up to the U.S. in such key technology areas as artificial intelligence, computing chips, quantum computing and surveillance.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is revising its trade regulations to add and remove items from the U.S. Munitions List and to clarify the control scope of others. The changes, outlined in an interim final rule released Jan. 16 and effective Sept. 15, include new defense articles that DDTC said should be subject to export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and delete others “that no longer warrant inclusion” or that will soon become subject to the Commerce Department’s licensing jurisdiction.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Jan. 15 that he hopes to elevate the State Department’s role in foreign policy-making if the Senate approves his nomination to lead the agency.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reintroduced a bill Jan. 13 that would designate the Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), saying the label would trigger more effective sanctions against third parties that supply the Yemen-based group.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued a summary of the various export control actions it has taken under the Biden administration, including its various semiconductor-related rules, export restrictions against Russia, Entity Listings, academic outreach efforts (see 2408140049) and more. It also highlighted the administration’s export control work with U.S. allies, including with the U.K. and Australia under the AUKUS partnership (see 2404180035), initiatives with Japan and South Korea (see 2404260067), and enforcement coordination with the Group of 7 nations (see 2409250004).
The Netherlands on Jan. 15 announced expanded export controls to cover more advanced semiconductor equipment, a move the country’s foreign ministry said is necessary to address increasing “security risks associated with the uncontrolled export of these technologies.”
The U.S. this week issued a host of new Russia-related sanctions, designating nearly 100 entities as Russia-related secondary-sanctions risks and a range of other people and companies that it said are helping Russia evade sanctions. The Treasury Department sanctions specifically target a “sanctions evasion scheme” helping people in Russia and China make international payments for sensitive goods and a Kyrgyzstan bank also helping Russia evade sanctions, while new State Department sanctions target more than 150 entities and people, including in China, for supporting Russia’s military industrial base.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is placing new export controls on certain laboratory equipment that can be used for biotechnology purposes that may threaten U.S. national security, the agency said in an interim final rule released this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 27 technology companies to the Entity List, mostly in China, for helping Beijing make or procure advanced semiconductors or for supporting the country’s military modernization efforts through AI, the agency said in two final rules released Jan. 15 and effective Jan. 16. It’s also removing three entities tied to an Indian atomic energy agency.