The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned more than 40 people and entities tied to Iranian brothers Mansour, Nasser and Fazlolah Zarringhalam, who have laundered billions of dollars’ worth of funds through the international financial system for Iran's “shadow banking” network, the Treasury Department said. The designations target front companies in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong along with "affiliated businessmen" and others who have ties to sales of Iranian energy.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recently issued advanced chip guidance appears to raise compliance expectations for industry, especially for banks and forwarders that may be indirectly or inadvertently violating export controls on China, lawyers said.
The Supreme Court on June 5 said the Mexican government failed to "plausibly allege" that seven U.S. gun manufacturers "aided and abetted gun dealers' unlawful sales of firearms to Mexican traffickers." As a result, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) bars the lawsuit, a unanimous court held.
Joseph Barloon, who was a general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during Donald Trump's first term, told Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that he believes in rules-based trade.
A grand jury indictment unsealed last week charges two people with trying to pay millions of dollars to ship U.S. export controlled technology and weapons to China, offering in some cases more than double the market rate to buy military jet engines, drones, cryptographic devices and other sensitive technologies.
The Democratic leaders of two key House committees said this week they’re “deeply concerned” about the Bureau of Industry and Security potentially pivoting away from traditional export control dialogues with allies and asked BIS to respond to oversight questions before the end of next week.
World Trade Organization members on May 27 elected chairpersons for the 14 subsidiary bodies under the Council for Trade in Goods, the WTO announced. They are:
President Donald Trump said May 23 that Japan-based Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel will enter a “planned partnership” that will invest in the 124-year-old American company while preserving its identity.
The European Parliament this week approved a European Commission proposal to raise tariffs on certain agricultural products, including nitrogen-based fertilizers, from Russia and Belarus by 50% (see 2501290037). The new duty, if approved by EU foreign ministers, would apply to Russian and Belarusian agricultural goods that haven't yet been subject to "extra customs duties," Parliament said. Along with certain fertilizers, the tariffs would apply to sugar, vinegar, flour and animal feed.
The United Steelworkers urged President Donald Trump May 22 to reject Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp.'s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel, saying the deal could harm domestic steel manufacturing.