The U.S. government could improve its ability to wield its economic statecraft tools, including sanctions, export controls and investment screening, by making several organizational changes, such as creating an interagency coordinating body co-led by a new high-ranking official at the State Department, a researcher told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific May 14.

The Trump administration has a chance to create a “simpler, stronger” version of the soon-to-be-repealed AI diffusion rule (see 2505130018), including one that maintains strict export controls on adversaries while imposing few or no controls on close allies, researchers said this month.

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President Donald Trump announced May 13 that he plans to order the “cessation of sanctions against Syria” to give the war-torn country a “chance at greatness.”

DOJ is revising its corporate enforcement policy to encourage more voluntary disclosures, including by outlining a clearer path for self-reporting companies to avoid criminal prosecutions, the agency said. It’s also adding trade and sanctions to the list of “priority areas” for its whistleblower awards program.

The Bureau of Industry and Security officially announced this week that it plans to rescind the Biden administration’s AI diffusion export control rule and issue a “replacement rule in the future.” The agency also issued new guidance about how using Huawei Ascend chips and other Chinese chips likely violates U.S. export controls, published recommendations for companies to protect their supply chains against “diversion tactics,” and outlined the types of activities involving AI chips and AI models that may trigger a license requirement.

Nature’s Sunshine Products, a dietary supplement manufacturer headquartered in Utah, may have violated U.S. sanctions and export controls, it disclosed this month.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is considering lifting sanctions against Syria to help give the Syrian people a “fresh start” following last year’s fall of the Bashar Assad regime.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill last week that would require export-controlled advanced computing chips to contain location verification mechanisms to prevent their diversion to “adversaries” such as China.

The Trump administration’s request for an increased budget allocation for the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 2505020030) signals that export enforcement will be one of the administration's top priorities, said Gregory Allen, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.