Federal Maritime Commission staff have "nearly" completed the drafting process for the commission's upcoming final rule on detention and demurrage, and are "reviewing several late filed subsequent comments that have come in within the past month," FMC General Counsel Chris Hughey said at a Sept. 21 FMC meeting.
Sanctions and enforcement professionals from the U.K., the EU and the U.S. said although they are pleased with the unprecedented unity and coordination among nations opposed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is an ongoing challenge to fight export control evasion and asset hiding among Russian elites.
The Commerce Department last week released the final version of its guardrails for recipients of Chips Act funding, measures it said will prevent its semiconductor industry grants from being used to benefit certain “foreign countries of concern,” including China.
Global manufacturing firm 3M reached a $9.6 million settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control this week after it allegedly violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. OFAC said the company’s Swiss subsidiary knowingly sold reflective license plate sheeting through a German reseller to Bonyad Taavon Naja, an entity controlled by Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces.
The House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation this week that could apply full blocking sanctions on a host of Chinese companies in what Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., described as the “most severe set of financial restrictions the House of Representatives has ever considered.” Barr’s bill, the Chinese Military and Surveillance Company Sanctions Act (see 2302060005 and 2306130062), could lead to new financial sanctions on companies subject to certain U.S. investment restrictions and export control licensing requirements, including China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Huawei and other major Chinese technology companies.
The U.S. and three of its partners this week expanded the list of common high-priority items that exporters and others should closely monitor for potential diversion to Russia. The list includes seven new Harmonized System codes -- among them for bearings used for heavy vehicles and antennae used for navigation systems -- and was rearranged to provide “greater clarity” to exporters conducting due diligence on shipments.
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The U.S. unsealed an indictment this week against a Russian citizen and Hong Kong resident who helped illegally procure U.S. dual-use microelectronics with military applications for Russian end users. Maxim Marchenko used a network of shell companies to source the items from the U.S., DOJ said, giving false information to American distributors to assure them the products weren’t destined for Russia. Marchenko was charged with conspiring to defraud the U.S. along with money laundering, wire fraud and smuggling offenses.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more resources to investigate export control violations, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said this week. She also said a potential government shutdown would be “crushing” for the agency’s enforcement efforts and work on semiconductor export regulations.
A new Defense Department policy memo and guidance on foreign influence within American research institutions could exacerbate already complex export control due diligence challenges at universities, said Jackson Wood, director for industry strategy at Descartes. It also could lead to larger compliance risks for universities pursuing DOD-funded research, said Kit Conklin of compliance risk advisory firm Kharon.