A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill last week that could expand sanctions on Syria's Bashar Assad regime and close “loopholes” in existing sanctions. The Assad Anti-Normalization Act would sanction members of Syria’s People’s Assembly and senior officials of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and would “clarify the applicability” of sanctions to Syrian regime airlines and certain energy-related transactions. It also would expand the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act by “plugging loopholes” that “made it hard to enforce,” including by expanding Caesar Act sanctions on those involved in diverting humanitarian aid meant for the Syrian people.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a bill last week that could lead to sanctions on any person or entity “endangering” the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The New York lawmaker said Russia has begun forced evacuations of the plant’s employees, leaving it “dangerously understaffed.”

A group of House members asked President Joe Biden to reverse sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela, saying the measures are contributing to historic levels of migration to the U.S. But Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said U.S. sanctions aren’t the root cause of the migration, and the U.S. should find other ways to address the issue.

The chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee used his perch to promote a bill he sponsored that would allow the president to lower duties on non-import-sensitive goods made by a country that lost exports due to coercive actions; increase duties on imports from the "foreign adversary" committing the coercion; and allow the U.S. to more easily facilitate trade, including exports, with the coerced parties (see 2302230021).

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill this week that could require the administration to report on foreign investment in the U.S. space industry. The Space Protection of American Command and Enterprise Act would mandate an interagency annual report to Congress on foreign investment in “U.S. space exploration, manufacturing, telecommunications, and national security, including the countries of origin, sources of funds” and other information. It would also require the White House’s National Space Council to report on “investment competition” -- specifically from China and Russia -- aimed at leapfrogging “American economic leadership in commercial space,” including through intellectual property theft.

Former chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Gregg Doud called for the use of the new enforcement mechanism in the USMCA during a House Agriculture Committee hearing May 11.

A new House bill could lead to new sanctions against anyone involved in Iran’s missile or drone program, including buyers and sellers of the drones and those “importing or exporting any restricted missile or drone-related materiel to or from Iran.” The Fight Crime Act, which has bipartisan support, would also sanction people or entities that provide Iran “or its proxies” with products that “may contribute to the development of missiles or drones” or that participate “in joint missile or drone development with Iran or its proxies.”

Rep. John James, R-Mich., introduced a bill this month that could lead to more sanctions on supporters of Iran’s military forces. The legislation, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs May 5, would sanction foreign people who “support or conduct certain transactions” with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps or “other sanctioned persons.” The full text hasn’t yet been released.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week reintroduced a bill that could establish an outbound investment screening regime to prevent China and others from illegally acquiring sensitive U.S. technology.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., claiming that Ford Motor Company is clearly subservient to the Chinese Communist Party, wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, asking them to "expeditiously implement" outbound investment screening so that they can "hold Ford accountable for cooperating with human traffickers and slavers in advancing the PRC’s geopolitical strategy, to the detriment of American economic development and national security."