State Department Updates CAATSA Guidance

The State Department updated its guidance for the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act to address sanctions related to Russian energy export pipelines (see 2007150021), especially Nord Stream 2 and the second line of TurkStream, a notice released July 22 said. The agency deleted portions of the guidance that limited the focus of the act’s sanctions authorities to Russian pipeline projects for which a contract was signed on or after Aug. 2, 2017, the notice said. The agency also clarified that the “focus of implementation” will include Russian pipeline projects, such as Nord Stream 2, a pipeline from Russia to Europe, and the second line of TurkStream, from Russia to Turkey.