The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $40,000 settlement with Cubasphere and an unnamed individual for violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, OFAC said in a June 13 enforcement notice.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a $325,000 settlement with Expedia Group Inc. for helping more than 2,000 people with “Cuba-related travel services” that OFAC said violated the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, according to a June 13 enforcement notice.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a more than $220,000 settlement with Spain-based Hotelbeds USA for helping more than 700 people with Cuba-related travel services that violated the Cuba Assets Control Regulations, OFAC said in a June 13 enforcement notice.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged President Donald Trump's administration on June 13 not to use U.S. restrictions on Huawei as a “bargaining chip in trade negotiations” with China. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a notice adding Huawei and affiliates to a list of entities subject to export administration regulations beginning May 16 (see 1905160072). BIS issued a general license temporarily allowing certain transactions by Huawei and the affected affiliates through Aug. 19. Trump later said sanctions against Huawei could be part of trade negotiations with China.
The European Union Council is considering upholding sanctions placed on 17 Russians for “undermining or threatening” the sovereignty of Ukraine, the council said in a June 7 notice. The sanctions stem from a 2014 decision by the council. The notice contains a new statement of reasons for upholding the sanctions, which may be obtained by the sanctioned individuals before June 14, the notice said.
The United Kingdom’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a June 12 report rebuking the UK’s current sanctions policy, calling it “fragmented and incoherent.” The report called on the U.K.’s National Security Council “to begin an urgent review” of the country’s sanctions strategy and to report findings to Parliament by the end of 2019.
China appears to be formally laying the groundwork for export restrictions on rare earths, after previously only hinting in state media reports that they could be used to counter U.S. trade restrictions, according to an emailed update from the China-based consultancy Trivium. Citing a report from China's state-run Xinhua news service, Trivium said three Chinese ministries sent out survey teams June 10 to gather input from rare earths producers in several provinces. That follows three recent China National Development and Reform Commission symposiums where experts called for stricter export controls on rare earths, Trivium said. Though the survey was aimed at gathering “suggestions on how to improve protection and value of rare earths,” they also sought input on “further exerting the strategic value of rare earths and other resources,” according to an unofficial translation of the Xinhua report. The surveys signal that “Beijing is no longer hinting that it has the rare earths card at its disposal,” Trivium said. “Authorities have moved forward, and are seriously looking into the details of how exactly to implement export controls,” Trivium said. “Specifically, they are trying to understand how to minimize any negative impact on the domestic industry while maximizing external leverage.”
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iraq-based South Wealth Resources Company (SWRC), the “financial conduit” for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps-Qods Force, Treasury said in a June 12 press release. Treasury said SWRC has trafficked “hundreds of millions of dollars” in weapons to Iraqi militias. OFAC also sanctioned two SWRC associates, Makki Kazim ‘Abd Al Hamid Al Asadi and Mohammed Hussein Salih Al Hasani, for facilitating the IRGC’s access to Iraq’s financial system to evade U.S. sanctions. SWRC and its two associates are being sanctioned as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, the press release said.
Bipartisan members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the Trump administration’s emergency decision to sell millions of dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries, with the committee's top-ranking Democrat promising to explore “every possible avenue” to block the sales.
Instex, the European payment system designed to allow countries to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions, will be ready soon, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Iran, according to multiple reports and a June 10 German Foreign Office press release. Maas recently met with Iran officials, the foreign office said, and underscored Europe’s support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Meeting with reporters in Tehran, Maas said that “all the formal requirements are in place now,” to use Instex, according to reports, “and so I’m assuming we’ll be ready to use it in the foreseeable future.” The announcement comes about a week after the Trump administration sent a warning to Europe that sanctions will be imposed on anyone associated with Instex (see 1905300035). The German Foreign Office was critical of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran deal and its decision “not to extend exemptions for oil exports and non proliferation projects,” the press release said. “Germany and the other parties support the preservation of the JCPoA as a safeguard for greater stability and security in the region,” it said.