China’s Foreign Ministry this week objected to the U.S. Defense Department’s recent update to the list of companies with ties to the Chinese military, calling the list “discriminatory.” The Pentagon announced it had added China-based Tencent, owner of the messaging app WeChat, and CATL, a Chinese battery maker, in a notice released this week (see 2501060024).
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said Jan. 7 that he plans to reintroduce a bill to require additional sanctions against those committing or enabling atrocities in Sudan, systematically blocking humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country, or violating the UN arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur region.
A bipartisan group of four House members reintroduced a bill Jan. 3 to sanction officials who undermine democracy in the Republic of Georgia.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China said Jan. 6 that they support the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to place new export controls on advanced AI-related chips and believe the agency's upcoming interim final rule should include several specific measures to help keep sensitive technology out of China’s hands.
CBP notified export filers this week that it has officially updated an appendix in the Automated Export System with two new fatal error codes involving items classified under U.S. Munitions List Category XXI. The Census Bureau announced the changes last week (see 2412310011), saying AES will reject filings of shipments controlled under Category XXI if they don’t include a valid State Department commodity jurisdiction determination number.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Antal Rogan, a senior Hungarian government official, for corruptly diverting money from the country’s “strategic” sectors for himself and his loyalists. OFAC said Rogan, who is in charge of the government’s National Communications Office, Digital Government Agency, the Hungarian Tourism Agency and others, has “used his role to enrich himself and those loyal to his party,” including “distributing public contracts and resources to cronies.”
The U.S. this week sanctioned Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, commander of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, along with seven United Arab Emirates-based companies tied to the group, which has been locked in monthslong fighting with the country’s Sudanese Armed Forces. The State Department also issued a determination saying that the RSF has “perpetrated genocide” in the Darfur region of Sudan during the war, including through various human rights violations and crimes against defenseless civilians.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 7 renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13L, which replaced 13K, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EDT April 9. The license was set to expire Jan. 8.
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The U.K. government is now recommending -- but not mandating -- that companies insert “no-Russia” clauses in their contracts, saying those clauses could help shield exporters and sellers against sanctions risks. It also published guidance about the specific steps companies can take to carry out export due diligence, which goods and countries face a higher risk of Russia-related sanctions-evasion, red flags to monitor, and more.