The White House today announced a series of additional sanctions and export controls targeting Russia and Belarus for the invasion of Ukraine, including new restrictions on technology and software exports to Belarus, export controls on shipments of oil and gas extraction equipment to Russia, blocking sanctions on 22 Russian defense entities and a prohibition on Russian cargo planes flying to and from the U.S. Commerce will also add more entities to its Entity List that support Russian and Belarusian security services and defense efforts.

The Office of Foreign Asset Control on Feb. 28 issued a new directive that blocks certain transactions with the Central Bank of Russia, the Russian National Wealth Fund, and the Russian Ministry of Finance. OFAC also designated the Russian Direct Investment Fund -- which the agency called a "key" sovereign wealth fund -- along with its CEO, Kirill Dmitriev. OFAC also designated RDIF's management company and one of the managing company’s subsidiaries. By blocking these entities, OFAC said it is "terminating yet another route through which Russia has benefitted from access to the U.S. financial system."

The U.S. will set new sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov and "members of the Russian National Security Team," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at a press briefing Jan. 25. The decision was reached following a phone call with EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU announced similar measures the same day. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said details would be released later on Feb. 25.

The Commerce and Treasury Departments announced a raft of new export controls and sanctions measures against Russia in press releases issued Feb. 24 following White House remarks by President Joe Biden. The measures include export control license requirements for a broad swath of the Commerce Control List, and the expansion of sanctions, including to entities in Belarus. The Bureau of Industry and Security also released a final rule on the export control changes, which take effect Feb. 24.

President Joe Biden on Feb. 24 announced several new sanctions and export control actions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. In remarks at the White House, Biden promised that the sanctions would impose "severe costs on the Russian economy immediately" and are designed to "maximize the long-term impact on Russia." He said four more major Russian banks, including VTB, would be sanctioned along with Russian state-owned enterprises and that additional Russian officials would be added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will add seven entities to the Entity List for nuclear and nonproliferation reasons. The entities are for one company in China, five in Pakistan and one in the United Arab Emirates. The Chinese company will be subject to a license review policy of presumption of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and the other entities will be subject to certain nuclear end-user licensing restrictions. No license exceptions will be available for the entities. BIS will also make some corrections and clarifications to existing entries on the Entity List. The additions take effect upon publication in the Federal Register, scheduled for Feb. 14.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 33 Chinese entities to its Unverified List this week, including a range of companies operating in China's technology and electronics sectors, it said in a notice released Feb. 7. BIS said it hasn’t been able to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. All export license exceptions involving those parties will be suspended, and exporters must obtain a statement from any party listed on the UVL before proceeding with certain exports.

The House’s America Competes Act of 2022 proposes a host of export control and sanctions provisions, including new restrictions on exports of electronic waste-related goods, designations targeting China and a repeal of the sunset of a human rights sanctions authority. The bill, unveiled this week as the response to the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, would also require the Biden administration to conduct “periodic” reviews of its export control lists to better protect critical technologies and would urge the administration to reexamine U.S. export policies for countries that supply weapons to terrorist organizations.

Changes to the U.S. tariff schedule that implement an update to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature are set to take effect Jan. 27, according to the presidential proclamation scheduled for publication in the Federal Register Dec. 28. The full list of coming changes are described in a newly released report from the International Trade Commission.

The White House released its much anticipated proclamation amending the tariff schedule to implement the five-year update to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature. The widespread changes to the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule will take effect 30 days after the proclamation is published in the Federal Register.