The Russian grantor of a blocked U.S.-based trust company is suing the Office of Foreign Assets Control, saying OFAC falsely accused the trust of being used to help a Russian oligarch evade sanctions. Kuncha Kerimova, the grantor, said the trust was designed to share her wealth with her grandchildren and other descendants, not to aid designated Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.
The U.K. is open to strengthening enforcement against both British and third-country companies that illegally divert goods to Russia, said Douglas Alexander, the U.K.’s minister for trade policy and economic security.
President Donald Trump is ordering the reversal of a years-old purchase of audio visual technology equipment supplier Jupiter Systems by China-based Suirui Group, saying in a Federal Register notice released July 10 that the deal threatens U.S. national security. Suirui, which describes itself as a supplier of communication cloud products and services, must divest from Jupiter within 120 days, unless the company is granted an extension by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is progressing on a final rule that would relax certain export controls on Syria. BIS sent the rule for interagency review June 8, about a month after an agency official confirmed that BIS planned to lift some controls over the country (see 2506100052). President Donald Trump on June 30 authorized the "relaxation" of Syria-related export controls, specifically with respect to items on the Commerce Control List (see 2506300055).
Microsoft President Brad Smith this week warned the U.S. against introducing new export controls that could prevent American companies from becoming the world’s leading exporters of AI services, suggesting the Trump administration should instead look into expanding or replicating the AI deal it announced in May with the United Arab Emirates.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a global audio electronics company $1,454,145 for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions, accusing its employees of shipping goods to a United Arab Emirates distributor that they knew would then sell the items in Iran.
A California-based digital interface design company said in its initial public offering this month that it may have violated U.S. sanctions.
Companies should expect the Bureau of Industry and Security to continue a steady pace of penalties against export violators, particularly for cases involving semiconductors and other advanced technologies, said Gregory Dunlap, the former special agent in charge of the agency’s Los Angeles field office. And if Congress grants the agency’s request for more funding, Dunlap said, BIS could soon have the resources to more quickly carry out investigations and probe a greater number of exporters.
The U.S. and its allies should consider using additional sanctions to force Iran back to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons program, although more sanctions also risk pushing Iran to cooperate even more closely with China, Russia and North Korea, a former Pentagon official said last week.
The U.S. should take several steps to reduce red tape and streamline arms sales and technology transfers to close trading partners, including more frequently reviewing the jurisdiction of export-controlled items and combining reviews of weapons requests from allies, researchers said in a new report.