A group of 15 House and Senate members wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Dec. 18 asking whether the Department of Defense played a role in approving the export of U.S. technology to Chinese drone manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).
Four Republican leaders of the House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 18 urged the Biden administration to impose “comprehensive energy sanctions” on Russia, saying the existing price cap on Russian oil sales has failed to choke off revenue that Moscow uses to fund its war in Ukraine.
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Japan levied a host of new sanctions on Russia, including a ban on the import of non-industrial Russian diamonds, the Ministry of Finance announced Dec. 15, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said the import ban will be rolled out "at a later date."
The EU this week announced a new wide-ranging package of Russia sanctions, including designations of more than 140 people and companies as well as new import restrictions on Russian raw materials used to produce certain metals and new export controls on dual-use technology and industrial goods. The package also includes new restrictions on exports of industrial-related services, a broader ban on Russian energy products, a “tighter obligation” for member states to trace assets of sanctioned parties, new anti-sanctions circumvention measures and more.
The U.K. on Dec. 15 sanctioned Russia-based Joint Stock Commercial Bank Novikombank. The country's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said the bank conducts business in a sector of "strategic significance" to the Russian government. OFSI also amended the listings for 27 other Russia-related entries.
Charles McGonigal, a former FBI agent in the New York Counterintelligence Division, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his work with sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a Dec. 14 news release. McGonigal in August pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including by, following his departure from the FBI, investigating a rival Russian oligarch in return for payments from Deripaska (see 2308160029).
If U.S. policymakers become tempted to use sanctions to prevent a potential conflict with China, they should expect to face a wide range of challenges in wielding such economic tools, speakers said at a Dec. 15 event hosted by the Center for a New American Security.
A new blog post from the Treasury Department highlights the impacts that U.S. sanctions and export controls are having on Russia’s economy, outlining how the country’s “macroeconomic performance is suffering” and its policy responses to Western sanctions are “growing increasingly expensive.” The blog describes some of the issues that have contributed to Russia’s contracting economy, its difficulty in sourcing parts and components for its military, the “volatility” of its exchange rate and more. Russia has the resources to “maintain its war in the short-term,” Treasury said, but “its leaders face increasingly painful trade[-]offs that will sacrifice long-term prospects -- as underinvestment, slow productivity growth, and labor shortages will only deepen.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines (see 2206240051) that it said continue to illegally operate aircraft on flights into and out of Russia. The agency renewed denial orders for Siberian Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Nordwind Airlines for one year from this week. The orders were previously renewed for 180 days, but BIS requested a longer extension because the airlines continue to "act in blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of previously issued TDOs," including by operating flights between Russia and Dubai, Istanbul, Minsk, Beijing and Bangkok.