President Donald Trump this week said he hasn't yet decided to impose new sanctions against Russia because he believes it could still hurt the possibility of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The notifications, which cover licenses submitted from October through December, include exports to Germany, the Netherlands, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is suspending and revoking existing export licenses for a range of items destined to China, including chip-related design software and civil aviation items, two people familiar with the matter said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is aiming to roll back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports, two people familiar with the matter said.
Adam Small, a former trial lawyer in DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section who prosecuted export control and sanctions cases, is joining GE Aerospace as senior counsel, he announced on LinkedIn. Small left DOJ this month after first joining in 2011.
Matthew Olsen, who led DOJ’s National Security Division during the Biden administration, has joined WilmerHale as co-chair of the law firm's defense, national security and government contracts practice, he announced on LinkedIn. Olsen will advise on export controls, sanctions, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., government investigations, congressional oversight and more.
The U.K. on May 28 corrected seven entries on its Russia sanctions regime, including one person and six entities. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected the listing for Igor Bystrov, deputy director of MT-Systems and owner of Semirtek DOO, and six Russian and Chinese defense companies. The companies are Atoma LLC, MT-Systems, Pioneer Trade, Shanghai New Chess Co., Shanghai New Chess International Logistics Co. and LLC Responsibility "Market Special Depository."
New FAQs issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 28 provide more guidance on U.S. sanctions relief for Syria (see 2505230073), including what types of transactions are authorized, what Syria-related sanctions the U.S. is still enforcing and more. The FAQs stress that U.S. banks can process transactions by, to and through the Central Bank of Syria and that the sanctions relief doesn't remove any existing authorizations for humanitarian aid.
Although the Trump administration relaxed a range of sanctions against Syria last week, existing export controls still present risks for people and companies carrying out transactions with the country, law firms said this week.
Although adopting a 50% rule for the Entity List could allow U.S. export controls to capture more bad actors, it could also cause unintended business consequences and may make it more challenging for the Bureau of Industry and Security to add companies to the list, said Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s former export enforcement chief.