The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced a host of new Iran-related sanctions, including new designations against a “shadow banking” network aiding Iranian entities and new sanctions against a network of Chinese companies with ties to the country's unmanned drone industry. The designations target 39 entities illegally allowing Iranian companies to access the international financial system and a network of five companies supporting Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle procurement efforts.

U.S. enforcement agencies this week issued their first joint “compliance note” to warn industry about common Russian sanctions evasion efforts. The note -- from the Commerce, Treasury and Justice departments -- outlines methods Russia uses to circumvent trade restrictions, including through intermediaries or transshipment points, and describes a range of red flags businesses should monitor.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will expedite export license applications for items related to humanitarian and earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Syria, BIS announced Feb. 17. Although most aid-related items don’t require a license under the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said it will fast-track any items that do, including heavy equipment, telecommunications hardware and software, portable generators, medical devices, water purification equipment, sanitation equipment and shelter materials.

Russian customs data shows the country’s sanctioned defense companies are buying navigation equipment, jamming technology, jet-fighter parts and more from China, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 4. Russia has imported tens of thousands of shipments of dual-use goods since its invasion of Ukraine last year, most of them from China, the report said. Although the U.S. and other Western nations have imposed strict export controls on technology to stop sensitive items from being sent to Russia, Moscow is able to sustain its military needs through countries that haven’t joined the U.S.-led sanctions effort, the report said, including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. But Chinese companies are the “dominant exporters” of dual-use items to Russia, the report said.

The Philippines recently extended a 5% tariff on certain imported chicken and turkey, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service reported this week. The tariff, now in place through Dec. 31, 2024, imposes the tariff on imports of “mechanically deboned or separated poultry,” USDA said.

World Trade Organization members on Jan. 27 appointed new chairs for the Negotiating Group on Rules and the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session, the WTO announced. Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson will chair the rules group and Turkey's Alparslan Acarsoy the agriculture committee. Gunnarsson will head the "second wave" of fisheries subsidies talks following the fisheries agreement at the 12th Ministerial Conference. Acarsoy will "steer the process to build momentum on agriculture negotiations," the WTO said.

The U.S. filed appeals against four World Trade Organization dispute panel rulings that found the U.S. Section 232 national security tariffs on steel and aluminum violated global trade rules. The U.S. said during the Jan. 27 meeting of the dispute settlement body it will take the case to the Appellate Body -- the next tier of the WTO's dispute settlement system that stands defunct due to U.S. refusal to seat members on the body over reform concerns.

U.K. Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch appointed former Defense Minister Mark Lancaster to be a new defense export advocate, the Department for International Trade announced Jan. 25. In the new role, Lancaster will "engage with industry leaders, ministers and other key players both in the UK and overseas to drive UK defence exports." He also will travel at home and abroad to boost British defense exports, initially focusing on opportunities in Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, Qatar and countries in NATO's eastern flank.

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.

The Supreme Court of the U.S. held oral arguments on Jan. 17 over Turkish state-owned Halkbank's claims that the U.S. judicial system does not have the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases against foreign governments and their state-owned entities. Halkbank is attempting to shirk prosecution over its efforts to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The bank's arguments received a mixed reaction from the Supreme Court, with numerous justices expressing doubt over the plaintiff's claims that it is immune from criminal prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. U.S., #21-1450).