Ahead of an EU-China summit later this month, officials from both sides criticized the other’s trade practices and warned that conditions need to improve if they plan to work together on market access, economic security measures and other trade issues.
The U.K. on July 10 added two entities to its Haiti sanctions regime. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation sanctioned two gangs, Gran Grif and Viv Ansanm. Gran Grif is led by Luckson Elan, and Viv Ansanm is led by Jimmy Cherizier.
The U.K. issued new sanctions guidance this week to help clarify how it uses the term “domiciled” when determining if an entity is located in a restricted country. In new FAQ 153, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said it uses the term “domiciled” on a case-by-case basis, and it’s usually to examine an entity’s “place of incorporation and constitution, as we consider this to represent a substantial connection between the entity and a given jurisdiction.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently updated its website to allow users to search through the Commerce Control List’s Export Control Classification Numbers by keywords. Users can search keywords across all ECCNs or within just one CCL category.
The Russian grantor of a blocked U.S.-based trust company is suing the Office of Foreign Assets Control, saying OFAC falsely accused the trust of being used to help a Russian oligarch evade sanctions. Kuncha Kerimova, the grantor, said the trust was designed to share her wealth with her grandchildren and other descendants, not to aid designated Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.
The U.K. is open to strengthening enforcement against both British and third-country companies that illegally divert goods to Russia, said Douglas Alexander, the U.K.’s minister for trade policy and economic security.
The Senate Appropriations Committee endorsed a proposal July 10 to urge the Bureau of Industry and Security to create a program to provide financial rewards to those who report illegal exports of advanced semiconductors and AI-enabling chips to “foreign adversaries.”
Adam Szubin, former head of the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Covington, where he will work on sanctions, export controls, money laundering and investment security issues. Szubin, who mostly served in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, was most recently a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell.
China is placing new dual-use export restrictions on eight entities based in Taiwan about a month after Taiwan added major Chinese technology companies Huawei and SMIC to its Entity List (see 2506160008).
The Aerospace Industries Association has endorsed two House bills it says would remove unnecessary barriers to defense trade, AIA vice president for international affairs Dak Hardwick said on LinkedIn July 8.