The Trump administration wants Congress to increase funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security by $132 million or 77% in FY 2026 to prevent sensitive U.S. technology from falling into the wrong hands, a senior administration official said May 2.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security's AI diffusion export control rule has sparked broad pushback from some U.S. allies, it appears to take a “strong step” toward improving BIS efforts to prevent chip smuggling to China, said researchers with the Center for a New American Security. If the Trump administration decides to tweak parts of the rule or revoke it altogether, the researchers warned, the U.S. will need to find other ways for BIS to better enforce its chip controls.
A bill aimed at revitalizing the American maritime sector includes a provision that would require the Commerce and State Departments to study ways to reduce export controls and International Traffic in Arms Regulations on foreign-owned companies that wish to invest in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
The U.K. on May 1 amended one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. OFSI updated the listing of Albert Shigabutdinov to reflect that he's a director of the TAIF Group, a firm operating in the Russian energy, financial services and communications sectors.
China has informed the EU that it has lifted sanctions against certain European Parliament lawmakers, the Parliament said April 30. The sanctions, imposed by Beijing in March 2021, targeted five Parliament members and the body’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. Roberta Metsola, Parliament president, said EU committees “must be able to discuss European interests with their Chinese counterparts without fear of repercussions,” adding that the best way to approach China is “through engagement and dialogue.”
President Donald Trump on May 1 threatened to impose secondary sanctions against any country or person buying "any amount" of oil or petrochemical products from Iran. Those nations or people "will not be allowed to do business with the United States of America in any way, shape, or form," he said on Truth Social. The Treasury Department has published several rounds of sanctions in recent months against people and companies, including shipowners and their vessels, involved in moving or buying Iranian oil (see 2504280013, 2504100048, 2503130021 and 2502240019).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three people and two entities in Mexico for their ties to a drug trafficking and fuel theft network linked to the Mexico-based Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. The Treasury Department also published a new alert with red flags that could signal a company is using a U.S. bank as part of a fuel smuggling scheme on the U.S. southwest border.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, urged the Trump administration April 30 to reconsider its decision to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), saying the move could impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to the impoverished country.
The Council of the EU on April 28 extended the sanctions on Moldova for one year, pushing them to an April 29, 2026, expiration date. The restrictions currently apply to 16 people and two entities and were imposed on those seeking to destabilize, undermine or threaten the "sovereignty and independence of" Moldova.
The State Department this week sanctioned multiple entities and ships moving Iranian petroleum products and petrochemical products, including four sellers and one buyer of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian energy.