Although President Joe Biden’s recent executive order on foreign direct investment isn’t expected to significantly change review outcomes, it sends a clear signal to industry about the U.S.’s FDI priorities and could help companies better understand whether they should submit a voluntary filing, law firms said this month. One firm said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. may use the order as further reason to reach out to businesses about non-notified transactions.
Oil exports from Iran have dipped in recent months given greater competition from Russia in the Asian market, Bloomberg reported. Dropping from a peak of 1 million barrels of crude oil exports a day to an average of 750,000 barrels, Iran's exports are dealing with direct competition from Russia in countries such as China. The competition has forced Tehran to constantly review and adjust its prices, Bloomberg said.
A new, bipartisan bill in the Senate and House would introduce new sanctions measures to “hold the Russian Federation accountable for the countless human rights abuses” in Ukraine. The bill -- introduced by in the Senate by Todd Young, R-Ind., and Jacky Rosen D-Nev., and in the House by Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and Jimmy Panetta D-Calif. -- would create a “congressional nomination process” for new human rights sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. It would also “update” U.S. policy to “address” people involved in Russia’s forced relocation and retention activities in Ukraine, and it would require the State Department to include details on human rights abuses in Ukraine in its annual human rights report. It would also require the administration to submit a classified report to Congress on the scope of Russia’s war crimes, including abuses to human rights.
Although U.S. human rights sanctions against China (see 2204010039) may be imposing some financial consequences, they aren’t convincing Beijing to stop committing abuses, Chris Chivvis, a former State Department sanctions official, said during a webinar last week hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He said the U.S. may need to take a different tack with China if it wants to achieve its policy goals. Chivvis directs Carnegie's American Statecraft Program.
The European Commission updated its Russia sanctions FAQs, releasing a page on the "Import, Purchase & Transfer of Listed Goods." The updated guidance says certain listed goods, including fertilizers, animal feed and various hydrocarbons, can be shipped to third countries. The move is intended to lessen strains on food and energy security given the sanctions on Russia.
The House this week passed the Russia Cryptocurrency Transparency Act with several sanctions provisions, including one to require the State and Treasury departments to assess how digital currencies are affecting the “effectiveness and enforcement” of U.S. sanctions against Russia. The agencies would also be required to submit to Congress recommendations for “new legislative and regulatory measures” to strengthen the U.S.’s ability to stop digital currencies being used for sanctions evasion.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added three questions to its Russia sanctions guidance page. The first asks whether insurers are allowed to insure Russian ships carrying food and fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine to a third country. OFSI said insurers can apply for a license under the food security purpose with OFSI, which allows anything to be done in connection with the distribution of food for the benefit of a country's civilian population. Applying for this license doesn't prevent applicants from also applying under a different purpose in the regulations.
A few EU member states expressed their concern that new proposed guidance from the European Commission could weaken sanctions on Russia and allow countries to ship certain key Russian commodities including coal, globally. Several countries, including Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, criticized the guidance, Bloomberg reported Sept. 21. In a meeting with EU ministers, the concerned parties asked the commission to halt the document's publication until their issues were addressed.
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The Senate should move forward with bipartisan legislation that would give the administration stronger authorities to penalize and investigate sanctioned Russian oligarchs and tackle broader sanctions evasion issues (see 2207200020), senators said during a hearing this week. But Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Congress shouldn’t be too quick to expand some of the Biden administration’s proposals, which could expand DOJ authorities unrelated to Russia.