A new House bill with bipartisan support could expand the Treasury Department’s upcoming outbound investment prohibitions to cover more Chinese technology sectors and additional countries, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.
House Select Committee on China Republicans wrote to President Joe Biden, asking him to make human rights and military demands of Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will happen Nov. 15-17.
The State Department should clarify that the U.S. will reimpose a range of sanctions against Venezuela's oil and gold sectors if the Nicolas Maduro-led regime doesn’t begin lifting electoral bans on opposition presidential candidates by the end of November, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in a letter to the agency this week.
Congress “must” move forward with a recently passed House bill that could lead to new sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process or accept Iranian petroleum, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said. The House voted 342-69 to pass the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act last week (see 2311030066), and Rubio, who has introduced similar legislation in the Senate, said his chamber should do the same.
The top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, said Wall Street and other investors want the government to provide a negative list they can hand off to their compliance teams.
The House on Nov. 3 passed a bill that could lead to new primary and secondary sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process or accept petroleum exported from or originating in Iran. The Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, passed 342-69, could also lead to sanctions on any entity that “transports, offloads, or otherwise deals in petroleum originating in Iran, including vessels engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum,” according to a press release from Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who introduced the bill alongside Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the Treasury Department’s new sanctions this week against the Myanmar state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (see 2310310028), saying the measures will “disrupt the junta’s access to the U.S. financial system and curtail its ability to commit further human rights violations.”
Two House members from California asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to talk to Turkey about its new retaliatory tariffs on American almonds. In an Oct. 31 letter, Reps. John Duarte (R) and Jim Costa (D), called the tariffs "burdensome" and said they give Australia, Spain, Uzbekistan and Iran an "unjustified competitive advantage over US almonds in the Turkish market."
The House on Nov. 1 voted 363-46 to pass a bill that would impose sanctions on any person, entity or state that offers financial or material support to Hamas and its affiliates. Along with financial sanctions, the bill calls on the president to block exports of any item on the U.S. Munitions List or Commerce Control List to any foreign state that provides support or “engages in a significant transaction” with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Lion’s Den or “any affiliate or successor thereof.” The administration would also have to submit regular reports to Congress detailing the “disposition of the assets and activities” of those groups, a list of foreign states knowingly giving them support and more. The legislation includes certain exceptions, including for humanitarian aid.
The Biden administration should warn Mexico that it will be hit with sanctions if the country continues to “circumvent U.S. policy” by selling oil to Cuba, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a post on Medium last week. Rubio cited shipping data in a Reuters report that showed Mexico had surpassed Russia in providing oil to Cuba, although Mexico has said the oil is for humanitarian purposes.