Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., introduced bills last week to ban TikTok, the short-video platform owned by China-based Byte Dance. "Banning [Chinese Communist Party] tied TikTok nationwide is the only route to ending this malicious cybersecurity threat,” Buck said in a press release.
Japan last week strengthened its sanctions and export controls against Russia to better restrict sensitive technologies and align its controls with “measures taken by other major countries.” The new measures impose asset freezes on a range of people and entities involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine, restrictions on “capital transactions” with certain Russian people and entities and an export prohibition on shipments to 49 entities. Japan also said it will impose export controls on “dual-use items which could contribute to the development of military capacity.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted new guidance for its October rule that expanded certain China-related chip controls (see 2210070049) and hopes to release it soon, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration. Kendler, speaking during a virtual conference hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center last week, also touched on the rule’s expiring temporary general license and urged industry to submit feedback on the new restrictions before the deadline this week.
The U.S. this week expanded sanctions against Wagner Group and designated people, entities and aircraft linked to the Russian private military company. The designations will "degrade the Russian Federation’s capacity to wage war against Ukraine," the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Jan. 26 news release, and target infrastructure that "supports battlefield operations in Ukraine," including weapons producers and administrators of Russian-occupied areas.
The U.S. should impose sanctions against China for allowing its companies to continue to supply semiconductors and other dual-use technologies to Russia, said Sen. Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Although the U.S. has penalized specific Chinese companies for supplying Russia -- including new sanctions this week -- Menendez said he wants to see a more “robust” set of measures.
The U.S. should double down on its resources, oversight and enforcement to prevent Russia from acquiring semiconductors and other dual-use goods used to power its war against Ukraine, the Silverado Policy Accelerator said in a report this week. If the broad Western export controls against Russia aren’t followed up with strict enforcement, the think tank said, Moscow will continue to find ways to import chips, including from China.
A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with five recent sanctions actions taken by the bloc pertaining to those who undermine the sovereignty of Ukraine, the European Council announced. In September, the European Council extended the restrictions until March. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway imposed the decision.
While companies should expect the U.S. to continue to coordinate trade restrictions with Europe this year, the EU, the U.K. and others may look to impose “broader” measures than the U.S. does as those nations try to strengthen their individual sanctions regimes, Willkie Farr said in a client alert this month. The firm also said the sanctions cooperation among many of the world’s democracies in 2022, particularly the trade restrictions imposed on Russia, “highlighted the divergence between governments and increased the demand on compliance teams.”
The U.S. should take more steps to counter corruption and sanctions evasion efforts by Russian kleptocrats, including through a new multilateral anti-corruption council, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said this week. While he applauded recent funding passed by Congress to provide more resources for government enforcement efforts, he said lawmakers have more work to do to close sanctions loopholes.
Jason Prince, former chief counsel at the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, has moved to Crowell & Moring as a partner, the firm announced. He will advise clients on sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia and other nations and parties. During his time at OFAC, Prince "oversaw the legal design of new sanctions measures and led the legal review of all major OFAC enforcement, compliance, licensing, litigation, and regulatory actions," the firm said.