China objected to the U.S. decision to add 33 Chinese entities to its Unverified List, it said in a Feb. 7 news release. The Bureau of Industry and Security made the additions, which included universities and companies operating in China's technology and electronics sectors, due to its inability to verify the reliability of the entities through end-use checks (see 2202070012). According to an unofficial translation, China's Ministry of Commerce said that the U.S. should immediately correct its perceived wrongdoing and return to mutual beneficial cooperation. MofCom characterized this action, along with the U.S. past export control moves, as tools of "political suppression and economic bullying." A BIS spokesperson dubbed its end-use checks a "core principle" of the agency's export control system.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice released Feb. 8. The new amounts include higher maximum penalties for violations of the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and the Clean Diamond Trade Act. The agency also updated two references to “one-half the IEEPA maximum CMP from $155,781 to $165,474” and adjusted the recordkeeping CMP amounts in OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines. The changes take effect Feb. 9.
Republican senators urged the Biden administration to get Senate approval for any potential nuclear deal with Iran, or risk Congress overturning the deal at the start of the next administration. The lawmakers, including Jim Risch of Idaho and Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republicans on the Senate’s Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, respectively, said the administration is required to seek Senate approval under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015. Any deal reached with Iran not ratified by the Senate “is subject to being reversed, and indeed will likely be torn up, in the opening days of the next Presidential administration, as early as January 2025,” more than 30 senators said in a Jan. 7 letter to the White House. The lawmakers said they will use their “full range of options and leverage available to United States Senators to ensure that you meet those obligations,” and the “implementation of any agreement will be severely if not terminally hampered if you do not.” The White House didn’t comment. The administration last week restored an Iran-related sanctions waiver that it hopes will bring the sides closer to a deal (see 2202070035), which could ease a range of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Senators said they are continuing to negotiate the details of a comprehensive Russia sanctions bill Feb. 8 and hope to reach an agreement quickly. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declined to say what the final sticking points are, but said they need to be cleared up soon. “We’re running out of runway here,” Risch told reporters on Capitol Hill, “and it’s really important that we get this done.”
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes certain sanctions against people and entities in Myanmar, the White House said Feb. 7. The “situation” resulting from the military coup in 2021 continues to pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the White House said The emergency was extended for one year beyond Feb. 10.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is adding Ethiopia sanctions regulations to implement the Sept. 17 executive order "Imposing Sanctions on Certain Persons With Respect to the Humanitarian and Human Rights Crisis in Ethiopia" (see 2109170036).
WuXi Biologics, one of China’s largest biotechnology companies, said it complies with all U.S. export control regulations despite the Commerce Department’s decision to add two of its subsidiaries to the Unverified List this week (see 2202070012). The company said it has been approved to import U.S. export-controlled “hardware controllers for bioreactors and certain hollow fiber filters” for 10 years. “We do not re-export or resell these items to any other entity,” WuXi said Feb. 8 in a statement.
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The European Commission announced plans this week to increase investments and incentives for its semiconductor industry and establish a more reliable chip supply chain to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. The plans also could lead to more export control measures over sensitive chip products in response to domestic shortages or unfair foreign trade policies.
The U.K. amended seven entries under its Belarus sanctions list, in a Feb. 4 financial sanctions notice. The entry for Dana Holdings, also known as Dana Astra, was amended on the new and previous versions of the Consolidated List, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said. Entries for Alexander Ryhorovich Lukashenko, Igor Petrovich Sergeenko, Dmitry Balaba, Aleh Uladzimiravich Matkin, Andrei Mikalaevich Gurtsevich and Mikhail Safarbekovich Gutseriev also were amended but solely on the new version of the Consolidated List. OFSI also removed an alias for the entry of Alexander Vasilevich Shakutin.