The Bureau of Industry and Security, which is seeking a major budget increase in FY 2026 (see 2505020030), would use the funding boost to add hundreds of employees to enhance its compliance and enforcement capabilities, agency head Jeffrey Kessler said June 12.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied June 11 that the Trump administration has agreed to relax controls on chip exports to China in return for China curbing its own restrictions on rare earth exports.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week fined California-based venture capital firm GVA Capital more than $215 million for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Russia and for failing to comply with an OFAC subpoena. The firm knowingly managed an investment for sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, OFAC said.
DOJ announced last week that it opened a civil forfeiture action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against more than $7.74 million allegedly laundered on behalf of the North Korean government. The funds were initially "restrained" as part of an indictment against North Korean banker Sim Hyon Sop, who was allegedly conspiring with North Korean information technology workers who illegally "amassed millions in cryptocurrency" as a means of evading sanctions on North Korea, DOJ said.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced a bill June 10 that would require the State Department to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chairman of the House’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, said June 10 that he plans to reintroduce a bill that would sanction foreign entities and individuals who directly engage in transnational repression.
As lawmakers consider imposing new sanctions on Russia, they should ensure they don’t hinder the Trump administration’s ability to negotiate a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said June 11.
The U.S. and China reached an agreement for Beijing to rein in export curbs on critical minerals, and for the U.S. to "provide to China what was agreed to," President Donald Trump said June 11, offering few details about the substance of the deal.
The Commerce Department is still waiting to issue its long-awaited proposed rule on routed exports despite making progress on the effort in recent months, said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations at the Census Bureau.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s lack of an official replacement regulation for the Biden-era AI diffusion rule is causing significant uncertainty for companies working in the semiconductor sector, industry officials said this week. Although BIS has said it doesn’t plan to enforce the rule, at least one consultant said she’s not yet comfortable advising clients to ignore those restrictions.