The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court judge that it said has ordered "arbitrary pre-trial detentions" and suppressed freedom of expression.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than 115 people, entities and vessels for their ties to Iran, including for their part in a “vast shipping empire” controlled by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a top political adviser to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Shamkhani. The designations -- which target a network generating tens of billions of dollars for Iran by moving oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia to buyers around the world -- represent the U.S.'s largest Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, OFAC said.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked the Trump administration July 30 to provide more information about its decision to allow Nvidia to sell H20 AI chips to China, including what “guardrails” it has put in place to ensure that the exports don’t help modernize the Chinese military.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined an industrial equipment supplier more than $1.57 million after the agency said it illegally exported refiner plates to Russia. The company, Pennsylvania-based Andritz Inc., committed 36 violations of the Export Administration Regulations by shipping more than $3.1 million worth of the plates without a license between May 2023 and February 2024, BIS said.
Guernsey, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the English Channel, announced fines of 175,000 pounds (about $230,000) and 35,000 pounds (about $45,000) against a company and its director, respectively, for Russia-related sanctions violations. The Guernsey Financial Services Commission said ITI Trade and Alex Phil, its director, committed “wide-spread and systemic breaches” of sanctions regulatory requirements related to its Russian clients and “failed to ensure appropriate and effective” procedures against money laundering and financing terrorism.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said July 28 on social media that he’s “alarmed” that the Trump administration is lifting sanctions on “key people linked to Burma’s military regime,” referring to the country now known as Myanmar.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, introduced a bill July 25 that would prohibit exports of medicine and prosthetic medical devices, such as artificial limbs, to Russia. The ban would stay in place until the State Department certifies to Congress that Russia has ended its military operations in Ukraine and withdrawn its forces. The Medical Supply Sanctions Act was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, that the Chinese delegation spoke too early when they said the two sides agreed to another 90 days at current tariff levels, because the president is the one to decide. However, in a later interview with CNBC, Bessent said the meetings had been "highly satisfactory."
The Council of the European Union on July 29 decided to renew its list of individuals and entities subject to restrictive measures meant to combat terrorism. The measures cover 13 individuals and 22 entities. As part of the renewal, the council delisted one deceased individual but left the rest "unchanged."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control's $11.8 million sanctions fine levied on Interactive Brokers earlier this month is another sign that the agency intends to focus enforcement on "financial gatekeepers," including investment firms, accountants and wealth advisers (see 2506230023), Baker Botts said in a client alert.