Ray Hunt, an Alabama resident and business owner, was sentenced this week to five years in prison after pleading guilty in July to conspiring to illegally export U.S.-origin goods to Iran, DOJ announced. The agency said Hunt conspired to ship parts used in the oil and gas industry to Iran and submitted false export information to the U.S. government (see 2211300011). He worked around U.S. restrictions by using third-party transshipment companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, routing payments through UAE banks, and lying to shipping companies about how much the exports were worth to stop them from filing export information in the Automated Export System.
The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body agreed during its Feb. 24 meeting to establish a dispute panel on China's request to review Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China. China's first request for a panel was blocked at the Jan. 27 DSB meeting. Following China's renewed effort to seek a dispute panel, Turkey said it's concerned that "China is making such a request before all possible bilateral consultations are exhausted," since the dispute concerns a "major sector that has been facing strong challenges for many years due to uncompetitive practices, subsidization and excess capacity," the WTO said.
The U.K. added 34 people and 33 entries to its Russia sanctions list on Feb. 24, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. In addition to listing Russian companies, OFSI sanctioned companies based in Hong Kong, China, Germany, Thailand, India, Ukraine, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Kyrgyzstan for contributing to Russia's economy or war effort, along with businesspeople and military figures from Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, North Korea and Israel for contributing to the destabilization of Ukraine or operating in a sector of strategic significance to Russia.
The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's Feb. 24 meeting includes a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China.
Members of the European Parliament this week called on the EU member states to impose sanctions against the Turkish government for undermining democracy and Nicaraguan officials for human rights violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked the export privileges of a Florida-based freight forwarding company, the company’s owner and five other businesses for illegally shipping export controlled items to Russia as recently as last year, according to a BIS temporary denial order and court documents.
Companies should consider carrying out extra due diligence when vetting customers that could have connections to address-only listings on the Entity List, a trade lawyer and former Bureau of Industry and Security official said.
The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's Jan. 27 meeting includes a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China.
President Joe Biden this week removed references to Turkey from a 2019 executive order that authorizes certain sanctions against Syria. The order had partly authorized certain sanctions against people and entities associated with “recent actions by the Government of Turkey to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria,” including former or current government officials and companies operating in certain sectors of the Turkish economy.
The U.K. government is now recommending -- but not mandating -- that companies insert “no-Russia” clauses in their contracts, saying those clauses could help shield exporters and sellers against sanctions risks. It also published guidance about the specific steps companies can take to carry out export due diligence, which goods and countries face a higher risk of Russia-related sanctions-evasion, red flags to monitor, and more.