American defense firm RTX will pay close to $1 billion to resolve allegations that it tried to defraud the U.S. government and committed violations of defense export control regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ and the SEC said Oct. 16. The company agreed to enter into two deferred prosecution agreements to settle the claims, which included Raytheon’s alleged failure to report bribes in export licensing applications and its submission of false information to the U.S. as part of multiple foreign military defense contracts.
The U.K. on Oct. 8 revised its antidumping duties on ceramic tiles from China, revoking the duties for tiles where the largest surface equals or exceeds 0.36 meters squared "unless the differential relief on the largest surface exceeds" 3 millimeters. The U.K. also revoked duties for tiles with an "edge equal to or longer than 600mm, unless the differential relief on the largest surface exceeds 3mm." Another change adds "finishing ceramics" to the description of the covered goods, while "glazed and unglazed" will be removed from the description. The notice also extends the existing duty rates for another five years, until Nov. 24, 2027.
Export controls on American technology are helping the U.S. maintain its technological lead over foreign competitors, and the Biden administration plans to follow that blueprint for restrictions around quantum technologies, said Don Graves, deputy secretary of the Commerce Department.
LONDON -- The U.K. government is pouring more resources into enforcement of its sanctions and export controls, with a particular focus on closing loopholes that may be allowing Russia to receive restricted business services or continuing to buy critical items for its military, a senior U.K. trade official said this week.
A new law aimed at cutting off funding for Hamas requires the Biden administration to submit a key report to Congress by Oct. 21, according to a spokesperson for Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., who proposed the legislation.
An upcoming supply chain summit hosted by the Commerce Department and the Council on Foreign Relations will bring together industry and government leaders to discuss ways to improve supply chain resilience.
A decrease last year in filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is continuing into 2024, Latham & Watkins said in an Aug. 2 client alert.
The Bureau of Industry and Security promoted Tracy Patts to be the agency’s assistant director of the International Operations Division within the Office of Enforcement Analysis, Patts announced on LinkedIn this week. Patts has been at BIS since 2010 and mostly worked as a senior export policy analyst.
A Massachusetts financial services firm agreed to pay a nearly $7.5 million penalty after the Office of Foreign Assets Control accused its subsidiary of revising dates on invoices to skirt certain financial restrictions on dealings in new Russia-related debt. OFAC said the company’s 38 violations of the Ukraine-/Russia-Related Sanctions Regulations involved more than $1.2 million worth of invoices for companies owned by Russia’s Sberbank and VTB Bank.
The Federal Maritime Commission this week released its final rule on unreasonable carrier conduct, the last step in the FMC’s nearly two-year campaign of crafting regulations to address ocean carriers that unfairly refuse vessel or cargo space to shippers.