House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter to President Biden urging him to implement mandatory sanctions against U.S. adversaries under McCaul’s 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act. (Public Law (118-50)  “I call on you to provide additional resources, including detailed staff, to the Departments of Treasury and State for the specific purpose of immediate and robust implementation of the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act to counter Iran, Russia, and China. The world is on fire; we cannot lose another day to hesitation, appeasement, and weakness.”

Republican lawmakers continued their campaign to derail Chinese battery firm Gotion's plans to build a factory in Michigan, calling for a retroactive review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Congressman John Moolenar (R-MI), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and colleagues cite the facility's location, 60 miles from a National Guard training facility Camp Grayling.

In a case illustrating the long arm of US sanctions enforcement, Hanoi - based Vietnam Beverage Company Limited has agreed to pay $860,000  on behalf of two of its subsidiaries for apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  The Thai-controlled brewer settled potential fines of nearly $16 million related to $1.4 million of shopments to North Korea.

Compliance-challenged defense contracting giant RTX has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle charges of government contract fraud, foreign bribery, and export control violations. The settlement comes on the heels of a $200 million settlement in August with the State Department [12717] for a raft of  export control violations.  

BIS Wedensday published Federal Register notices soliciting comments on Cuban Agricultural trade licensing processes.  The Bureau also updated a table associated with with License Exceptions and made additions and deletions to the Unverified List.

Mexico wants to reduce its dependence on imports from China and is asking some of the world’s biggest manufacturers and tech firms operating in the country to identify Chinese products and parts that could be made locally. The country’s deputy trade minister, Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, told the Wall Street Journal  that Mexico wants U.S. carmakers and semiconductor manufacturers as well as global giants in the aerospace and electronics sectors to substitute some goods and components manufactured in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Companies who think that U.S. export controls and sanctions do not apply to their products and channels of trade should reassess that position. No matter whether the transaction is an acquisition of a U.S. business, sale of products, or the performance of services, companies and foreign investors across all industries need to assess whether exportcontrols or sanctions compliance is necessary. This means more due diligence of business partners and new procedures to ensure that products and services are not used by restricted recipients.

The EU and Canada adopted this week a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on the professional qualifications for architects, marking the EU's first such bilateral agreement. "This MRA will streamline the recognition process, making it easier for architects to work across both jurisdictions, allowing them to explore new business opportunities and export their world-class skills," the Commission stated in the announcement.

The End-Use Certificate (DLA Form 1822) is submitted by individuals prior to releasing export-controlled personal property out of DoD control. Export-controlled personal property are items listed on the United States Munitions Lists or Commerce Control List, and includes articles, items, technical data, technology, or software. Transfers of export- controlled personal property out of DoD control may be in tangible and intangible forms.

The Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee (ETTAC) will meet on October 21, 2024, and The Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee (Committee) will meet on Tuesday, October 29, 2024

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Moog Inc., a New York-based global manufacturer of motion controls systems for aerospace, defense, industrial and medical markets, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve the SEC’s charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribes paid by its wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Moog Motion Controls Private Limited .

The White House is considering various import prohibition options on the basis that Chinese nationals are engaging in trade or taking of pangolins that diminishes the effectiveness of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). China remains the largest destination country for pangolin scales

The Securities and Exchange Commission's  2012 conflict minerals disclosure rule has not reduced violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and has likely had no effect in adjoining countries, according to a GAO report released October 7th. The SEC rule requires companies to file reports on their use of tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold, which are mined in the DRC. GAO found no empirical evidence that the rule has decreased the occurrence or level of violence in the eastern DRC, where many mines and armed groups are located

Toronto Dominion Bank will pay over $3 billion in fines and is subject to a cap on US growth after regulators uncovered widespread money laundering failures in the banks Philadelphia and Miami operations. Prosecutors said the bank operated with inadequate guards against money laundering for nearly a decade, failing to act even when staff flagged obvious cases of abuse, such as a customer making daily deposits of $1m in cash.

Two Russian nationals were charged Thursday for export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.

The UK's Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), within the Department for Business and Trade, opened last week. This new sanctions body has been established to strengthen the enforcement of trade sanctions and support businesses with compliance.. Complementing HMRC’s trade sanctions enforcement role at the UK border, OTSI has new civil enforcement powers in relation to services as well as movement of goods across third country borders, where there is a UK nexus.

On September 23, the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Commerce released its audit of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS’) efforts to "counter China’s Military-Civilian Fusion strategy"   The auditors found the BIS export license approval process "adequate in reducing the risk" of controlled items being inappropriately approved for export to China. However, they found that BIS has "not minimized the risk of unauthorized release of controlled technologies and software to China."

Previously under sanctions due to its ties to Imperial Yachts, the 136 meter (446 ft) superyacht Flying Fox is likely to be free to operate globally without restrictions. …

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published guidance for financial institutions containing best practice recommendations for complying with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  The guidance focuses on General Prohibition 10 (GP 10), which prohibits financial institutions (and other persons) from financing or otherwise servicing any item subject to the EAR with knowledge that a violation of EAR has occurred, is about to occur, or is intended to occur.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published guidance for financial institutions containing best practice recommendations for complying with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  The guidance focuses on General Prohibition 10 (GP 10), which prohibits financial institutions (and other persons) from financing or otherwise servicing any item subject to the EAR with knowledge that a violation of EAR has occurred, is about to occur, or is intended to occur.