Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, that the Chinese delegation spoke too early when they said the two sides agreed to another 90 days at current tariff levels, because the president is the one to decide. However, in a later interview with CNBC, Bessent said the meetings had been "highly satisfactory."
President Donald Trump said he's no longer giving Russia 50 days, until Sept. 2, to stop its war in Ukraine or face trade measures. He told reporters in Scotland on July 28, "I'm going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today. There's no reason in waiting," he said. "We just don't see any progress being made."
The U.K. last week released a threat assessment of the sanctions compliance risks involving British "cyptoasset" firms, saying those companies have likely underreported suspected sanctions breaches to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation since August 2022. Although most cases of noncompliance by these companies have occurred "inadvertently due to common issues such as direct and indirect exposures to" sanctioned people, the U.K. said it expects that some of the violations have involved dealings with the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex. It also said crypto firms are "at risk of being targeted" by North Korean hackers and added that some British crypto firms are likely "facilitating transfers to Iranian cryptoasset firms with suspected links" to sanctioned parties.
The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation July 22 to increase sanctions on Russia and Burma and revise sanctions on Syria.
The U.K. on July 24 amended the sanctions listing for energy company Litasco Middle East DMCC under its Russia sanctions list. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended the listing to note that the company is also known as LME Trading DMCC.
The U.K. on July 23 amended a pair of Russia sanctions licenses pursuant to the U.K. Global Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Persons Sanctions Regulation 2025.
China this week criticized the EU’s recent decision to sanction more than 25 mainland Chinese and Hong Kong companies for supporting Russia's military-industrial complex (see 2507180017), saying the bloc’s allegations are “groundless." Beijing “is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said July 21 in response to a reporter's question at a regular press conference, according to an unofficial translation.
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House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said July 22 that the U.S. needs to impose stronger export controls and outbound investment restrictions on China to protect its own national security.
The U.K. on July 21 sanctioned United Arab Emirates-based companies Intershipping Services and Litasco Middle East DMCC for doing business involving the Russian energy sector. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation also issued a new general license that authorizes certain transactions with Intershipping Services involving ships owned by the government of Gabon.