The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a bill that would allow Congress to approve or block efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to lift sanctions against Iran. The bill -- introduced March 9 by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, with support from 20 other Republican committee members -- is the House’s companion legislation to a similar bill introduced by Senate Republicans last month (see 2102260025). McCaul said the administration has “already started making concessions in an apparent attempt to start negotiations with Iran” and the bill would provide “oversight” for any sanctions relief offered by the U.S. The administration hasn’t lifted any sanctions against Iran and expects a challenging road back to the Iranian nuclear deal or a new agreement (see 2101280043).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the adult children of the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military and their six companies, the agency said March 10. The designations target Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, who have “directly benefitted from their father’s position and malign influence.” OFAC also sanctioned the companies A&M Mahar Company Limited, Sky One Construction Company Limited, The Yangon Restaurant, The Yangon Gallery, Everfit Company Limited and Seventh Sense Company Limited.
Don Graves, President Joe Biden’s nominee for deputy commerce secretary, said export restrictions shouldn’t be removed from Huawei and that the Commerce Department should do more to promote U.S. leadership at international technology standards setting bodies. Graves also said he is open to imposing more export controls and other restrictions against China for human rights violations.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated its sanctions list for Somalia and Sudan, adding three individuals to the Somali sanctions and removing one individual from the Sudanese restrictions. In a March 2 notice, OFSI subjected Somali nationals Abukar Ali Adan, Maalim Ayman and Mahad Karate each to an asset freeze for “engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, security or stability of Somalia.” In a March 8 notice, the U.K. also removed Adam Shareif (see 2103080009) from its Sudan sanctions list.
The U.S. revoked a Treasury Department license issued in January to mining magnate Dan Gertler and reimposed sanctions on the Israeli businessman, the State Department said March 8. The license had been issued to Gertler during the last days of the Trump administration, effectively exempting Gertler from certain U.S. sanctions. The State Department said the license is “inconsistent with America’s strong foreign policy interests in combatting corruption around the world,” adding that Gertler has “engaged in extensive public corruption” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The U.S. plans to review its sanctions regime against Venezuela after determining that unilateral measures over the last four years haven’t been effective and haven’t driven Nicolas Maduro from power, a senior administration official told reporters on a March 8 call. The official said the U.S. is hoping to garner more multilateral support for an international approach to Venezuela but added that it is in “no rush to lift sanctions.” The comments come amid a Treasury Department review of all U.S. sanctions regimes (see 2102230047).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 1-5 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has placed its foreign military intelligence rule (see 2101140035) on hold and may not implement the rule’s changes later this month, a BIS official said. Although the rule was published in the Federal Register in January, BIS included it in the Biden administration’s regulatory freeze because it wasn’t scheduled to take effect until March 16.
Italy blocked a shipment of 250,700 AstraZeneca vaccine doses headed for Australia, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a March 4 news release. Italy cited three reasons for the imposition of the export controls: Australia is considered “non-vulnerable,” there is an ongoing shortage of vaccines in the EU and Italy with delays of shipments between AstraZeneca and the EU and Italy and the number of doses in the shipment was comparable to the quantity of doses supplied to Italy so far. The move marks the first time an EU member state has used the EU's new vaccine export controls, which passed Jan. 29. Before Italy's use of the controls, experts had said that the controls were meant only to send a message to AstraZeneca, which was making large commitments with many non-EU nations, including the U.K. and Australia, leaving it in danger of falling short of its EU commitments (see 2103010022).
In a report to the Chinese legislature on March 8, Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Li Zhanshu declared his intention to pursue an expanded toolkit to combat U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg reported. Beijing pledged to speed up legislation intended to combat penalties imposed on China by former President Donald Trump. “We will upgrade our legal tool kit for meeting challenges and guarding against risks in order to oppose foreign sanctions, interference and long-arm jurisdiction,” Li said. At a news conference March 7, Foreign Minister Wang Yi had told the U.S. to not interfere in China's internal affairs, Bloomberg reported.