Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged foreign investors to take advantage of the Administration’s domestic investments in areas like semiconductors and clean energy technology that are making the United States an ever more attractive investment destination. Mr. Blinken pointed to the newly-established Economic Diplomacy Action Group, that is tasked with boosting US competitiveness and attracting increased foreign investment.
Wednesday Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), United Steelworkers leadership and Cleveland Cliffs leadership called on the administration to act to stop the surge in Mexican steel imports, which has been attributed to the Chinese government routing steel through Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs. "The Mexican government is currently violating a 2019 agreement with the U.S. and threatening steelworkers in Ohio and around the country," according to a statement.
The US Export-Import Bank is “laser focused” on the challenges posed by China, but needs Congress to remove some of its lending restraints so that it can compete against Beijing, Bank Chair and President Reta Jo Lewis told lawmakers Thursday. The Bank’s China and Transformational Exports Program and Make More in America Initiative are helping, but “we can and should do more,” she told a House Financial Services subcommittee.
In response to continued development of Tehran's nuclear capabilities, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced additional measures against Iranian petrochemical transport and trade. "Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose," said Mr. Blinken. "We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome."
Milwaukee Tool faces allegations of utilizing forced labor in a Chinese prison factory to manufacture work gloves, where workers endured harsh conditions, including beatings and torture. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, asserts that the company either knew or should have known that the gloves were produced through forced labor, contravening the U.S. Trafficking Victim Protection Act.
While Fulfilled by Amazon merchants have long taken advantage of the duty-free treatment of small shipments, Amazon's own merchandise sales have customarily involved the payment of tax and duty, creating an opening for the Chinese e-tailers Shein and Temu. Not for long. Wednesday, Amazon announced a new channel for its platform which will sell consumer goods and clothing direclty from China to US customers. Eliminating the US warehousing nexus puts the Seattle-based merchant on equal footing with its Chinese rivals, in terms of landed cost.
Friday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF), concluded its sixth and final Plenary under the Singaporean Presidency. During the Plenary, the FATF took several key actions, including adopting Grey Listing Monaco and Venezuela and Mutual Evaluation Reports (MERs) for India and Kuwait, agreeing to publish a report on non-financial gatekeeper facilitation of corruption, and discussing the priorities of the incoming Mexican FATF Presidency.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council precedent, which required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of laws during rulemaking. Friday's decision, made with a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, reduces the authority of executive agencies and raises questions about future regulatory actions across the administrative state..
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a proposed rule to strengthen and modernize financial institutions’ anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs. While financial institutions have long maintained AML/CFT programs under existing regulations, Friday's proposed rule would amend those regulations to explicitly require that such programs be effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed, enabling financial institutions to focus their resources and attention in a manner consistent with their risk profiles.
The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) approved a $50 million financing package to small business ESS Inc. under the Make More in America (MMIA) Initiative to finance the construction of several new long-duration battery storage production lines at ESS Tech’s Wilsonville, Oregon facility.
Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published its first quarterly update of the boycott Requester List. This list notifies companies, financial institutions, freight forwarders, individuals, and other U.S. persons of potential sources of certain boycott-related requests they may receive during the regular course of business. The updated public list of entities who have been identified as having made a boycott-related request in reports received by BIS includes 57 additions. BIS has also removed 127 entities.
After 20 years of lackluster results building commercial vessels for Jones Act trade, Norwegian investment group Aker ASA is selling its Philadelphia shipbuilding operations to Korea's Hanwa Group for $100 million. Philly Shipyard supplies around 50% of the largest U.S. commercial vessels, including tankers and container ships. In addition, Philly Shipyard constructs training vessels for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD).
PetroChina International America Inc. (PCIA) has entered into an agreement to pay a fine and monetary forfeiture totaling $14.5 million for violations of U.S. export law, including cargos misclassified and/or undervalued at the time of export and then entered into AES.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $538,000 settlement with Mondo TV, S.p.a. an Italian animation company for 18 apparent violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations. Between May 2019 and November 2021, Mondo remitted approximately $537,939 to a Government of North Korea-owned studio in payment for outsourced animation work. In doing so, Mondo caused U.S. financial institutions to process wire transfers that contained the blocked property interests of the Government of North Korea and to export financial services to North Korea.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco traveled to Brussels last week to lead the U.S. delegation at the U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial. The Joint Statement from the Ministerial noted that both sides focused on addressing irregular migration, with a view to fight migrant smuggling and trafficking networks, building on the call to action of the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling launched in November 2023.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Tuesday sanctioned nearly 50 entities and individuals that constitute multiple branches of a sprawling “shadow banking” network used by Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) The entities, including cover companies based in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Marshall Islands have been used to gain illicit access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020.
The European Council adopted Monday a 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures on Russia. The package includes restrictive measures on additional 116 individuals and entities , as well as sectoral measures on Energy, Third-Country Subsidiaries and other Anti-Circumvention measures, Financial Communications Systems and Defense Industrial Base, Political Activities, Port Access for specific vessels, dual-use and commodity trade controls, as well as legal protections for sanctions compliance and intellectual property.
Unlicensed exports of fruit flies genetically modified to produce a subunit of a controlled toxin drew Indiana University a penalty from the Commerce Department. As part of a settlement agreement, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an order imposing an administrative penalty on Indiana University (IU) related to exports by IU’s Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC).
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and five entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis. OFAC is also designating one individual and one company, as well as identifying one vessel, that have facilitated the shipment of commodities, the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement.
The United States last year imported 3 billion pounds of UCO, half of which came from China – up from a total of 200 million pounds imported in 2020. A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Biden Administration to address this surge in imports.