Canada last week announced a new set of sanctions against people linked to the terror group Hamas or Iran’s military. The designations target Khaled Qaddoumi, Ali Morshed Shirazi, Mostafa Mohammad Khani and Ali Ahmad Faizullahi, who Canada said has offered military training, resources or other support to “help bolster Hamas’ terrorist capabilities.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Venezuela-related general license to extend the current authorization for certain transactions with the country’s state-owned energy company. General License No. 8N, which replaces No. 8M (see 2311160051), authorizes certain transactions between Petroleos de Venezuela and Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International, with certain restrictions, through 12:01 a.m. EST Nov. 15. The license was scheduled to expire May 16.
A bipartisan group of four House members, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, introduced a bill last week that they said would help the Bureau of Industry and Security control exports of artificial intelligence systems and other new national security-related technologies.
The U.S. should form a new export control strategy to better pinpoint the restrictions that will impose the highest costs on China, with a particular focus on technologies where the U.S. and its allies dominate the global market, researchers said. They also said the U.S. should create a new agency or government position to coordinate export controls, sanctions and other economic statecraft tools against China and other adversaries.
While the U.S. should look to counter China with export controls, tariffs and outbound investment restrictions, it also needs to better incentivize trading partners to diversify their supply chains away from China, the Atlantic Council said this week.
Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Brian Mast, R-Fla., introduced a bill May 7 that would sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if they issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.
A bipartisan group of 10 senators called on the EU May 9 to step up sanctions against Venezuela to address the country’s repression of political opponents.
The EPA has published a final rule, effective July 8, imposing import certification and export notification requirements for methylene chloride, a chemical that has killed those using it as a paint stripper and for bathtub refinishing.
The U.K. High Court of Justice on May 3 said funds are subject to sanctions when a party can prove that the funds are being "in fact controlled" by a sanctioned party, not when there's "only reasonable cause to suspect" they are controlled by a sanctioned party, according to the Global Sanctions blog.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued a new advisory this week to alert industry about the ways Iran-backed terrorist organizations are illegally circumventing or using the international financial system to raise, move and spend money. The advisory also includes a list of red flags to help banks and other financial institutions catch suspicious activity that may be linked to those groups.