Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said late Sept. 3 that while he welcomes the recent decision by France, Germany and the U.K. to initiate snapback U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear weapons program (see 2508280033), he believes the U.S. will need to work with the trio to ensure adherence to the sanctions.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for aiding efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged human rights violations in Gaza.
The U.S. isn't doing enough to compete with China on technology, partly because of its failure to meaningfully restrict outbound investments and its willingness to let American companies continue to sell advanced chips to China, said Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Christopher Pilkerton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for investment security (see 2506040013), said Sept. 4 that he would aim to increase compliance with U.S. requirements for foreign investment.
Democrats in the Senate are arguing that it's time to pass a bipartisan bill that would authorize up to 500% tariffs on goods from countries that buy Russian oil and gas and aren't providing aid to Ukraine to defend itself.
Jennifer Kennedy Gellie, former chief of DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section in the National Security Division, has joined Pillsbury's international trade group. Gellie left DOJ in January after nearly a decade with the agency, where she worked on cases involving export controls, sanctions, corporate crime and other similar issues. Pillsbury said she will help clients "navigate enforcement and compliance for sanctions, export-control, Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and trade matters."
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation reminded industry this week that the new, lower price cap for Russian oil took effect Sept. 2 (see 2507180017). The new $47.60 cap is down from the previous $60 cap announced about two years ago (see 2212050014). The U.K. added that there is a 45-day wind-down period, ending Oct. 17, for existing contracts to comply with the new cap.
Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., introduced a bill Sept. 2 that would authorize the president to impose property-blocking sanctions on Tunisian officials responsible for the country’s recent democratic backsliding and increased human rights abuses.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sept. 3 that the U.S. should immediately enforce sanctions on Serbia’s majority-Russian-owned oil company, NIS, to punish Belgrade for its "subservience" to Moscow.
The House approved several export control and sanctions bills late Sept. 2, including two aimed at China.