The Treasury Department’s lead official for the Committee on the Foreign Investment in the U.S. expects the committee to continue much of its existing efforts under the incoming Trump administration, including by prioritizing enforcement and compliance with mitigation agreements.
European companies are looking for clarity around new rules that may require them to boost due diligence efforts among their non-EU subsidiaries and insert language in contracts that bars reexports of sensitive goods to Russia and Belarus, lawyers said this week.
The U.S. this week issued a host of new sanctions against Russia, targeting Gazprombank, the country’s largest remaining non-designated bank, along with more than 50 smaller banks tied to Moscow, more than 40 securities registrars Russia has used to evade sanctions and 15 Russian finance officials. The agency also issued new and updated general licenses and warned foreign banks that they could be sanctioned for participating in a Russia-linked financial messaging system.
EU ministers this week officially adopted a ban on products made with forced labor, marking one of the final steps in a yearslong lawmaking process designed to eliminate EU imports, exports or other sales of those goods (see 2404230048 and 2403050035). The new regulations will apply about three years after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
European lawmakers are concerned more aggressive China-related policies put in place by the incoming Trump administration, including around investment screening, could lead more Chinese companies to shift their investments to Europe, possibly raising national and economic security risks for EU member states, they said this week.
South Korea should be invited to join the Group of 7 nations because of its willingness to work with the U.S. and other allies in imposing sanctions and export controls against Russia, the country’s former foreign affairs minister said this week.
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick to be Commerce Department secretary, Trump announced Nov. 19. "He will lead our tariff and trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said in a statement.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a U.S. citizen more than $1 million for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran by using foreign money services businesses to buy an Iranian hotel.
Chinese President Xi Xinping raised concerns about U.S. export controls during what was expected to be his last meeting with President Joe Biden before Donald Trump takes office (see 2411140018), warning the U.S. against pursuing policies that could lead to the decoupling of the two economies.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. soon will be able to impose higher penalties, collect a broader range of information from parties involved in non-notified transactions, fine companies and issue subpoenas in a wider set of circumstances, and gain other expanded powers as part of a final rule expected to be formally issued by the Treasury Department in the coming days.