The U.K. fined a British exporter about 1.16 million pounds (about $1.52 million) for making goods available to Russia, the country’s revenue and customs agency announced Nov. 3. The penalty is the largest settlement the U.K. has ever reached with a business for violating Russia sanctions.
The Defense Department is updating guidance for its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Only List to revise the items that are included and to create more opportunities for countries to buy U.S. defense items through direct commercial sales, the agency said in a new memo. The Pentagon is also changing the name of the list from the FMS Only List to the Government-to-Government (G2G) Only List.
The U.S. decision to suspend the Bureau of Industry and Security's 50% rule was met with both relief and exasperation by U.S. exporters, some of whom welcomed more time to prepare while also expressing frustration with the time and resources they already spent trying to comply, including buying expensive screening software.
The Commerce Department again renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways, saying that the Iranian airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations. In its Oct. 31 notice, Commerce said Mahan, which has been on the banned list since 2008, has continued flights between Iran and Russia, China and Pakistan in violation of U.S. export controls. BIS extended the denial order for one year.
The U.S. will suspend the Bureau of Industry and Security’s 50% rule for one year in exchange for Beijing postponing its export restrictions on rare earths for one year, the two sides announced Oct. 30.
The Trump administration has signaled that it may not waste time in enforcing the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new 50% rule, said Gavin Proudley, head of third-party risk proposition at Dow Jones, during the International Compliance Professionals Association's fall conference this week in Texas.
Nvidia’s Blackwell AI processors, the company’s latest advanced AI chip, will be part of trade negotiations in talks with China this week, President Donald Trump told reporters Oct. 28.
The U.S. and Japan this week agreed to improve “technology protection” measures and enforcement coordination as part of a new Technology Prosperity Deal. Japan also agreed to pursue new sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet, strengthen foreign investment reviews and commit to work with the U.S. to strengthen critical minerals supply chains.
It seems unlikely that the Bureau of Industry and Security could withdraw its new 50% rule either due to industry pushback or as part of trade negotiations with China, said Matt Axelrod, the former BIS export enforcement chief.
The Treasury Department should endorse a protocol that would allow financial institutions to prove that a digital-asset wallet holder isn’t subject to U.S. sanctions while keeping that holder’s identity private, consulting firms and digital-assets companies told the agency.