Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said late Oct. 7 that he hopes to have the Senate take up his Russia sanctions and tariff bill by month’s end to send a message to next month’s Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Canada.
U.S. and allied export controls have failed to stop China from buying “vast quantities of highly sophisticated” semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) it could use to advance its chipmaking capabilities and bolster its military and surveillance apparatus, the House Select Committee on China said in a new report Oct. 7.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, proposed a bill that would require the executive branch to form an interagency task force to identify Chinese entities that could be sanctioned for supporting an attempt by China to take over Taiwan.
House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee Chairman Keith Self, R-Texas, unveiled a bill Sept. 30 to codify a new interim final rule that will place subsidiaries on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List or Military End-User List if they are owned 50% or more by companies on those lists.
The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along party lines Sept. 30 to approve the nomination of Christopher Pilkerton to be the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for investment security. The committee also voted 15-9 to support Jonathan Burke to be Treasury’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing. Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., joined the panel’s Republicans in backing Burke. Both nominations now head to the full Senate for its consideration.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a State Department reauthorization bill Sept. 18 that would consolidate the State Department’s sanctions activities into a new Sanctions Policy Bureau led by an assistant secretary for sanctions policy (see 2509110039).
To crack down on Hong Kong’s significant role in sanctions evasion, the U.S. should increase funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security’s budget, pass pending anti-money laundering legislation and sanction banks involved in the Chinese territory’s illicit trade, a Hong Kong expert said Sept. 18.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., announced Sept. 17 that he plans to introduce bipartisan legislation to seize about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets and make the funds available to Ukraine to better equip its military.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., urged Congress Sept. 15 to pass two pending Russia sanctions bills to pressure Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.
The Trump administration is looking to reduce barriers to U.S. exports of agricultural and energy products as part of its ongoing trade negotiations with India (see 2509100062), said Sergio Gor, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. ambassador to India.