The State Department this week announced penalties on three people and two entities and their subsidiaries for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act.
The founder and former CEO of a California-based freight forwarding company pleaded guilty on Nov. 26 to conspiring to violate export laws by sending goods to Chinese companies on the Commerce Department's Entity List, DOJ announced.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., urged the Biden administration last week to try to expand and better enforce the U.N. Security Council's arms embargo on war-torn Sudan.
The former chief of staff to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been chosen for USTR in Donald Trump's second administration.
The Census Bureau emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission, also known as the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, plans to hold a hearing Dec. 5 to examine how Belarus has aided Russia’s war against Ukraine through sanctions evasion and other means.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned 21 security and Cabinet-level officials with ties to the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela for supporting Maduro’s efforts to “fraudulently declare himself” the victor of the country’s July presidential election (see 2407290044 and 2310180070). The designations target members of Venezuela's security forces and government agencies that have helped to repress dissenting voices and maintain Maduro’s control over the country. Bradley Smith, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the agency will “continue to shine a light on those who seek to use violence and intimidation to undermine democratic governance and the legitimate exercise of free speech.”
Recently passed U.K. legislation gives the country’s top sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers, Crowell & Moring said in a November client alert, and could allow it to process license applications more efficiently.
China’s Foreign Ministry objected to a new set of export controls the U.S. is reportedly planning to announce in the coming days, saying it’s opposed to the “U.S. overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China.” A ministry spokesperson told reporters Nov. 25 that the new controls would disrupt international trade and global supply chains. “China will take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson said.
Amin Betuni of Palos Hills, Illinois, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for illegally exporting firearm parts to Israel, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced. Betuni pleaded guilty to shipping firearm parts, including rifle barrels, gas blocks for rifles and bolt carrier groups, to individuals in Israel "on at least three occasions in 2022," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.