A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers issued a press release late July 7 calling on Congress to pass a bill that would require export-controlled advanced computing chips to contain location verification mechanisms.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a general license that authorizes payments of certain taxes, fees, import duties, licenses, certifications and other similar transactions involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation that would normally be blocked under Directive 4 of Executive Order 14024. General License 13N, which replaces 13M, authorizes those transactions through 12:01 a.m. ET Oct. 9, as long as they're “ordinarily incident and necessary to the day-to-day operations in the Russian Federation of such U.S. persons or entities.” The license was scheduled to expire July 9.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a North Korea-based hacker along with a Russian national and several related companies for helping to employ North Korean information technology workers abroad.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a global audio electronics company $1,454,145 for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions, accusing its employees of shipping goods to a United Arab Emirates distributor that they knew would then sell the items in Iran.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged China to lift its export curbs on rare earths and asked it to stop allowing its companies to support Russia’s military industrial base.
Beijing is following through on a trade agreement recently reached with Washington by approving license applications for certain exports to the U.S., a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said July 4 in response to a reporter's question at a press conference, without providing specific details.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Gregory Murphy, R-N.C., introduced a bill July 2 that would require the State Department to develop a strategy to address instability in Haiti, including by assessing the impact of sanctions on the country.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., introduced a bill July 2 that would require a review of whether individuals or entities included on certain sanctions list should be included on other sanctions lists. The legislation was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees. Fine’s office didn't respond to a request for more information about the bill.
The State Department has revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the agency said in a Federal Register notice this week. The move, effective July 8, is in line with President Donald Trump’s mandate to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, the State Department said.