President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the federal workforce are unlikely to target the Bureau of Industry and Security, which is already dealing with employee shortages as it carries out U.S. export control policy, a former senior BIS official said.
Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, reintroduced a bill Jan. 29 that would require the president to identify and sanction those responsible for torture, abductions and other human rights abuses against Southern Mongolians in China. Merkley said the bill is intended to counter China’s efforts to erase Mongolian culture and language. The Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Merkley previously introduced the bill in November.
A bipartisan group of four House members introduced a resolution Jan. 28 calling for additional sanctions against Belarusian officials following that country’s recent “fraudulent” presidential election that extended the longtime rule of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
The Census Bureau is making permanent a “fillable” voluntary self-disclosure form that it launched as a pilot program in August, saying the form has allowed the agency to receive more “timely and complete” data and more efficiently process disclosures. The Census Trade Regulations Branch will officially begin implementing the disclosure form March 3, the agency said in a Jan. 30 email to industry.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week rescinded two alerts that warned banks about transactions that may have been funding “Israeli extremist settler violence” in violation of U.S. sanctions (see 2402010053). The alerts had asked banks and other financial institutions to submit suspicious activity reports to FinCEN if they believed a transaction may have been tied to West Bank violence. The move came days after the Office of Foreign Assets Control, under the direction of President Donald Trump, officially removed sanctions from all people and entities designated under a Biden-era sanctions authority that had targeted violent Israeli settlers and organizations in the region (see 2501240011).
Companies should consider carrying out extra due diligence when vetting customers that could have connections to address-only listings on the Entity List, a trade lawyer and former Bureau of Industry and Security official said.
European Parliament members this week probed the EU’s new trade commissioner about how he’s handling President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, with some members calling on the EU to prepare for retaliation.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Trump administration Jan. 30 to tighten export controls on computing chips that could enable China’s development of artificial intelligence.
The U.S. and the EU should launch a new “ambitious agenda” to address trade and technology challenges posed by China, including streamlining the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and building on sanctions and export controls, the Center for European Policy Analysis said this month.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., reintroduced a bill Jan. 28 that would authorize the administration to sanction Chinese chemical companies and government officials who don't do appropriate compliance and oversight to prevent their chemicals from being sold to narcotraffickers. The Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act was referred to the House Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Judiciary committees. Barr previously introduced the bill in May 2023 (see 2305230020), and the House of Representatives passed it in July 2023.