The Council of the European Union on Nov. 25 extended its sanctions regime pertaining to Turkey's unauthorized drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2019 for another year. The restrictions now run until Nov. 30, 2025.
The U.S. this week sanctioned six people connected to the terror group Hamas, including by helping it smuggle weapons into Gaza or for coordinating with Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and its technical advisory committees should do more public outreach to make sure companies are aware of important export control updates sometimes buried in Federal Register notices, a BIS committee heard last week. That outreach is especially critical for companies working with industrial chemical processing equipment, a committee member and industry lawyer said, which has commercial uses but is increasingly drawing BIS scrutiny for its military capabilities, including in chemical weapons.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., introduced a resolution last week urging the Biden administration to pause further transfers or sales of U.S.-made fighter jets to Turkey. Titus criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for making statements threatening Israel and supporting the terrorist group Hamas in its war on Israel. The measure was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The State Department formally notified Congress in January that it approved Turkey’s request to buy 40 new F-16s and modernize 79 existing ones for a total of $23 billion (see 2401290067).
A Virginia-based freight consolidation and forwarding business and two of its executives were charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act after they allegedly exported goods and technology to Russia by transshipping them through Turkey, Finland and Kazakhstan, DOJ announced Nov. 4.
The U.S. this week unveiled new trade and financial restrictions against people and companies across more than 17 countries for helping Russia evade sanctions or for supporting the country’s military, adding nearly 400 to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and more than 40 to the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Another move by Commerce will tighten existing controls on nearly 50 entities that it said are procuring U.S.-branded microelectronics for Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add more than 40 entries to the Entity List for shipping sensitive items to Russia or for other activities that support Russia’s military, and it will tighten restrictions on nearly 50 entities already on the list that BIS said are procuring U.S.-branded microelectronics for Russia, the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 30. BIS also plans to introduce new chemical weapons-related controls for certain chemical precursors that Russia has used in chemical weapons against Ukraine, it said in a separate final rule.
Brian Assi, a Middle East-based salesman of a heavy machinery manufacturer, was convicted last week of violating sanctions against Iran after he tried to export U.S.-made drills to Iran without licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank is not shielded from "common-law foreign sovereign immunity" in the U.S. government's suit against the bank for sanctions evasion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said earlier this week, ruling that the U.S. may prosecute it on charges that it helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions (United States v. Turkiye Halk Bankasi, 2nd Cir. # 20-3499).
The U.K.’s Export Control Joint Unit this week updated two open general export licenses related to the multi-country F-35 joint strike fighter program -- a defense acquisition effort by the U.K., the U.S. and others to replace fighter jets among allied countries.