The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of people and companies that it said are helping Iran move money, sell oil and evade international sanctions. The designations target financial facilitators in Iran, as well as more than a dozen people and companies based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
A new State Department export license exemption for underwater drones provides “new flexibility” for companies using those drones for certain commercial and scientific operations, but companies still need to set “careful compliance guardrails” to make sure they’re using the exemption correctly, K&L Gates said in a client alert.
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The State Department is changing the way it treats exports of unmanned drones, a shift that's expected to allow firms to more easily obtain export approvals.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has removed certain export restrictions from aircraft belonging to Belavia, the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, as part of sanctions relief that the Trump administration has offered to the country in recent days.
Beijing criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision last week to add a range of Chinese entities to the Entity List (see 2509120077), saying the U.S. has "generalized national security and abused export controls to impose sanctions on numerous Chinese entities in sectors such as semiconductors, biotechnology, aerospace, and trade and logistics."
Beijing is investigating whether U.S. chip policies -- including export controls, tariffs and other trade restrictions -- are discriminating against China’s semiconductor sector by suppressing its firms from developing advanced technologies. China also launched an antidumping investigation on imports of certain U.S. analog chips.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced Sept. 14 that he won’t run for reelection to his House seat next year but will serve out the rest of his current term.
Three Republican senators urged the Treasury Department Sept. 11 to place Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List), which would restrict the firm’s access to U.S. public investment, including stocks.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., asked the Treasury Department Sept. 15 whether it analyzed the national security consequences of its decision to narrow the scope of a rule implementing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).