A Texas-based freight forwarder will pay the Office of Foreign Assets Control more than $1.6 million to settle allegations that it violated sanctions against Venezuela and Iran. OFAC said company employees bypassed its sanctions compliance program procedures by working with a designated Venezuelan airline and an Iran-linked aircraft to transport goods from Mexico to a customer in Argentina.
Kimberly Prost, an International Criminal Court judge sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control last month, suggested that her designation may not meet OFAC sanctions criteria and that she’s considering challenging it. Although the listing has had “serious” financial and psychological effects on her and other ICC judges designated by the Trump administration this year, she said the court will continue its investigations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is revoking Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's status as a validated end-user, which allows the company to ship certain chip equipment to China under a general authorization, the company said Sept. 2.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is removing Chinese affiliates of Samsung and SK hynix from its Validated End-User List, making them ineligible for a general authorization that had allowed them to receive certain controlled technology for their Chinese factories.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will ease export controls on Syria Sept. 2 by creating a new license exception for the country, making it eligible for a broader set of existing exceptions and revising current BIS license review policies for Syria to “be more favorable.”
New guidance from U.S. national security agencies warns academic institutions and researchers to guard against increasing attempts by China and others to illegally acquire research, expertise or export controlled technologies. It also recommends steps researchers should take to make sure they don’t violate export laws, including if they’re involved in a foreign talent recruitment program or collaborating on research with people from another country.
The State Department is finalizing changes from a January rule that will add and remove items on the U.S. Munitions List and clarify the control scope of others. It said some new items should be subject to export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, while others “no longer warrant inclusion” or will soon be moved to the Commerce Department’s Commerce Control List. The agency will also create a new license exemption for underwater drones and tweak other portions of the January rule, but it declined to make multiple changes requested by exporters.
Delisting decisions at the Office of Foreign Assets Control are increasingly being driven by outside voices, leading to removals that lack transparency and interagency discussion, a former OFAC official said.
The EU last week issued new guidance on a requirement created in 2024 that calls on EU parent companies to make “best efforts” to ensure that their third-country subsidiaries aren’t enabling sanctions evasion (see 2411220014 and 2406240024). Although this “legal obligation applies only in the context of sanctions on Russia and Belarus,” the European Commission said it’s encouraging all EU parent companies “to seek to ensure that all entities they own or control do not undermine EU sanctions anywhere in the world.”
The Trump administration is likely still working out how to implement its supposed revenue-sharing chip export deal with Nvidia, including whether the agreement is allowed under U.S. law, a former U.S. diplomat said.