Treasury is imposing sanctions on three Nicaragua-based entities, the Training Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Managua (RTC); Compania Minera Internacional, S.A. (COMINTSA); and Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua, S.A. The RTC is a Nicaragua-based subdivision of the Government of the Russian Federation’s (GOR) Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is a "key actor in the Nicaraguan regime’s repression of civil society and unjust detention and imprisonment of individuals for expressing dissent, or otherwise peacefully exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms," according to the OFAC statement. The designations of COMINTSA and Capital Mining target government-affiliated gold companies generating revenue for the Ortega-Murillo regime. Gold is Nicaragua’s top commodity export.

The President signed H.R. 1042, the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, into law May 13, 2024.  This bipartisan legislative action prohibits the import of Russian uranium products into the United States as of August 12, 2024, while enabling a waiver process with the Department of Energy, in consultation with the Departments of State and Commerce, through January 1, 2028, consistent with the law.    May 14, 2024   The President signed H.R. 1042, the  Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act , into …

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated one Russian individual and three Russia-based companies involved in an attempted sanctions evasion scheme in which an "opaque and …

Ambassador Katherine Tai issued a statement Monday regarding the   finding against the United States in a determination regarding a labor dispute at the San Martin lead, zinc, copper and silver mine in the Mexican state of Zacatecas: The Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) panel established under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) determined that the agreement had no jurisdiction in the decades long labor dispute.

To encourage further elimination of the PRC’s technology transfer-related acts, policies, and practices, Ambassador Tai has recommended that products from the PRC currently subject to Section …

The Disruptive Technology Strike Force meets with US government and private sector partners to discuss the threat to advanced U.S. technology from hostile foreign governments and its efforts to …

House China Hawks introduced the “Enhancing National Frameworks for Overseas Critical Exports Act” (ENFORCE Act), modifying the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) The ENFORCE Act amends ECRA to give BIS the authority to export control-covered AI systems.

A bipartisian group of lawmakers has introduced  BIOSECURE Act, a bill to ensure American patient data and taxpayer dollars do not fall into the hands of foreign adversaries' biotechnology companies of concern by prohibiting Federal contracting with these companies. The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) national security laws require all Chinese firms to share any requested data with the CCP, including biotechnology companies that collect, test, and store American genomic data.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Chinese exports to Russia have risen by more than 60 percent .  Nathaniel Sher writes in Canegie Politika (link) that this trade is "nothing short of a lifeline to Russia's economy."

A clash of perspectives on the continuation of “consensus-based decision-making” surfaced at the World Trade Organization, after a group of countries floated a proposal on “responsible consensus,” which was earlier echoed by the United States, said people familiar with the development.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security added 37 entities – mostly based in China – to the Entity List under the Export Administration Regulations.  BIS said the action, announced Thursday, reflects the Administration’s commitment to safeguarding US national security and foreign policy interests.

A Florida woman pleaded guilty to 25 felony counts in Florida federal court, related to a scheme to falsely represent parts manufactured by a debarred Turkish fabricator were of American Origin. Among violations were the export of sensitive military drawings and specifications, despite the clear warnings on the face of each drawing that it could not be exported without obtaining a license.

Etablissements Maurel & Prom S.A. (Paris:MAU) (“M&P”, “the Group”) announces it has received a specific license it had applied for on 1 September 2023 from the U.S. …

Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Department of State (T/PM/DDTC) is surveying Individuals and companies registered with DDTC and engaged in the business of manufacturing, brokering, exporting, or temporarily importing defense hardware or defense technology data.   The information collection in question is the Statement of Material Change, Merger, Acquisition, or Divestiture of a Registered Party.

Congressional Republicans are demanding answers from Georgia Tech regarding its partnership with Tianjin University, a Chinese university with significant ties to the Chinese military, the People's …

On Wednesday 8 May 2024, the UK government hosted a senior US government delegation for the second US-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue. The United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed that sanctions and export controls are essential tools of national security policy. The delegations discussed the uses of targeted, coordinated sanctions and export control measures to deter and disrupt malign activity and to defend international norms.

OFAC has extended the General License 8M issued last November through November 2024. The GL authorizes certain disbursements necessary for the maintenance and security of operations, but not the drilling, lifting or transportation of petroleum for PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

The United States, as Chair of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), and MSP partners welcome the new deal finalized between STL, a subsidiary of La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Belgian company Umicore that advances cooperation on germanium offtake and processing.

A bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation aimed at expanding the Australia- United Kingdom-United States partnership to include Japan in order to combat the growing threat of China. The Coordinating AUKUS Engagement with Japan Act directs the two AUKUS coordinators at the U.S. Departments of State and Defense to engage with Japan, and consult with counterparts in the U.K. and Australia, at technical level to better understand how Japan could augment the partnership and what steps Japan might need to take in order to engage quickly and meaningfully in AUKUS advanced technology projects.

Ohio senator Sherrod Brown (D) is calling on the Biden Administration to ban all Chinese internet-connected vehicles and smart vehicle technology that is designed, developed, manufactured or supplied …