The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance April 5 clarifying that it generally won’t pursue sanctions against humanitarian-related transactions or exports to Syria as long as the items wouldn’t normally require an OFAC license. The guidance was issued about a week after the U.S. committed to providing more humanitarian aid to respond to the Syria crisis.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 29-April 2 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department should be careful not to place unilateral export restrictions on semiconductors and should invest heavily in domestic chip innovation, technology companies told the agency in comments due this week. But at least one think tank urged Commerce to pursue more strict controls and argued that decoupling from China along the semiconductor supply chain is inevitable.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. is working with the world's 20 largest economies in the hopes of arriving at “a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom.” If that agreement included an approach to taxation of the digital giants such as Google and Facebook, that would also deflate the digital services tax controversy, which could otherwise lead to additional 25% tariffs on more than $800 million in goods (see 2103290049).
A bill called the Countering Chinese Propaganda Act, introduced by a half-dozen Republicans in the House and by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in the Senate, would require the executive branch to impose sanctions on anyone who “knowingly commits a significant act of malign disinformation on behalf of the government of a foreign country or foreign political party that has the direct purpose or effect of influencing political, diplomatic, or educational activities in the United States,” when that disinformation either harms U.S. national security or the safety of any citizen or green card holder. According to the bill, the Treasury Department already sanctioned the head of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party, You Quan, for his role in the crackdown in Hong Kong. The United Front Work Department is the primary target of the bill, one of the co-introducers, Rep. Jim Banks, D-Ind., said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 5 removed three entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List following the U.S.’s decision to rescind its sanctions regime targeting the International Criminal Court. President Joe Biden revoked a Trump-era executive order last week that had authorized the sanctions, which the State Department called “inappropriate and ineffective” (see 2104020046).
The Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to eliminate reporting requirements for encryption items (see 2103260019) should substantially ease reporting burdens for certain companies, law firms said. Although the changes will affect a narrow set of exports, they’re expected to provide significant relief for companies that ship mass market encryption items or publish source code software online, the firms said.
President Joe Biden revoked an executive order that authorized sanctions against the International Criminal Court (see 2006110028), reversing a Trump administration decision that sparked strong opposition from allies and human rights advocates (see 2011030007 and 2010020030). The move lifted sanctions against ICC prosecutors and officials (see 2009020049), the State Department said April 2, adding that the measures were “inappropriate and ineffective.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a cautionary letter but did not fine Asana, the U.S. company behind a team-management and organization app, Asana said in its March 30 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Asana said it submitted a voluntary self-disclosure to OFAC after possibly providing services to sanctioned parties and illegally exporting controlled software. OFAC told Asana in February that it wouldn't pursue a civil monetary penalty against the company or “take other enforcement action,” according to the filing. The company also disclosed export violations to the Bureau of Industry and Security, which also issued a warning letter with no fine (see 2012300067).
As commercial ships worldwide continue to try to evade sanctions, U.S. authorities are increasingly monitoring industry compliance with maritime sanctions regulations, compliance experts said. The U.S. underscored maritime sanctions compliance last year after it issued guidance on common evasion practices, setting high expectations for industry compliance, the experts said.