Companies are continuing to see heavy U.S. enforcement surrounding Chinese attempts to steal U.S. trade secrets, and the government is increasingly expecting U.S. companies to voluntarily disclose violations surrounding those and other cases, lawyers said. The U.S. is hoping to increase enforcement by incentivizing companies to self-disclose sanctions and export control compliance mistakes, especially through the Department of Justice's revised disclosure policy guidelines (see 1912130047), the lawyers said.
European Union candidate countries of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania along with the European Free Trade Association nations of Iceland and Norway aligned their sanctions regimes with that of the European Union on Belarus, the European Council said in a July 13 news release. The newest wave of sanctions on Belarus banned the sale, transfer or export of dual-use goods and technologies for military use to anyone in Belarus (see 2106250009). The sanctions concern the May 23 forced landing of a Ryanair flight and subsequent arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.
While the Biden administration has made clear its intentions to pursue stronger export controls over advanced semiconductor-related equipment, companies should also be prepared to see potential export controls over a range of other sectors that the U.S. deems to be too reliant on China, Baker McKenzie trade lawyer Kerry Contini said. Contini, speaking during a July 14 Baker McKenzie conference, pointed specifically to President Joe Biden’s February executive order to address supply chain issues (see 2102240068), which mentions the medical and agricultural sectors as well as the chip industry.
The Biden administration is preparing to launch new export controls and investment screening initiatives to more closely coordinate with allies and better combat Chinese attempts to acquire advanced technologies, the U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser said July 13. Although the administration supports offensive tools, such as more funding for the domestic semiconductor sector, both officials said the U.S will continue to evolve its approach to defensive trade restrictions.
The European Parliament passed a resolution on July 8 calling for sanctions on high-ranking Nicaraguan officials responsible for human rights violations. The resolution called for President Daniel Ortega, Vice-President Rosario Murillo and their "inner circle" to be sanctioned while "taking particular care to do no harm to the Nicaraguan people." The resolution points to an increasingly dire situation following the "violent repression of civic protests" in April 2018, after which more than 100,000 people have been forced to flee the Central American nation.
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The U.S. updated its Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory, highlighting the increasing supply chain, sanctions, labor and export control risks of doing business in the Xinjiang region. The July 13 update, which builds and expands on the original advisory issued last year (see 2007010040), says China is committing genocide through its human rights violations against Muslim minorities, provides guidance to businesses that may invest in implicated Chinese companies, updates a list of U.S. enforcement actions related to Xinjiang and "strengthens" recommendations for companies that risk doing business in the region.
President Joe Biden nominated Alan Estevez, a former Obama administration Pentagon official, to lead the Bureau of Industry and Security, the White House announced July 13. Estevez is currently a defense and security consultant with Deloitte Consulting after serving as the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics and representing the Defense Department on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Estevez didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated two listings under its Belarus sanctions regime in a July 12 notice. The listings for Leanid Mikalaievich Churo and the Belaeronavigatsia Republican Unitary Air Navigation Services Enterprise, of which Churo is an employee, were amended to change the word "Unity" to "Unitary" in the entity's name. Both are still subject to an asset freeze.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the Syria sanctions listing of Salam Tohme in a July 12 financial sanctions notice. The update changed Tohme's listed gender from Female to Male. Tohme is still subject to an asset freeze.