Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two individuals and two entities for services they provided the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR) in connection with a foreign malign influence campaign, including attempting to impersonate legitimate media outlets.   Specifically, via their companies,  SDA and Structura, the two created a sprawling network of over 60 websites that impersonated legitimate news organizations, and which used misleading social media accounts to amplify the content of the spoofed websites.

Nothwithstanding a doubled caseload, antiquated systems, and flat budget for the past ten years, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has been keeping pace, Undersecretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told a congressional panel Wednesday. "BIS has been asked to do more in an era of strategic competition where economic statecraft is increasingly central to U.S. interests and strategy. We have risen to every challenge that we have been asked to take on."

In a recent development that could strain U.S.-European Union (EU) relations further, the U.S. has cautioned the EU against reopening a World Trade Organization (WTO) case related to steel and aluminum tariffs imposed during the Trump administration. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in closed-door remarks at a G-7 meeting last month, hinted at significant repercussions for the EU's efforts to reform a crucial aspect of multilateral trade cooperation.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, Nicaragua’s Attorney General, for being complicit in the Ortega-Murillo regime’s oppression.  In her capacity as Attorney General, Morales Urbina is responsible for enabling the Ortega-Murillo regime to confiscate real property formerly belonging to independent media outlets, international organizations, and political prisoners

Under the Competitive Enhancement Needs Assessment Survey Program (The Program), the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Technology Evaluation (OTE) distributes surveys nationwide to …

The collection is necessary under § 748.11 of the EAR. This section states that the Form BIS-711, Statement by Ultimate Consignee and Purchaser, or a statement on company letterhead (in accordance …

Commerce seeks comments on the Application for NATO International Competitive Bidding. Form BIS-4023P All U.S. firms desiring to participate in the NATO International Competitive Bidding (ICB) process under the NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP) must be certified as technically, financially, and professionally competent.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released a final rule to impose additional restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) on persons identified under fourteen sanctions programs, on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) maintained by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “Today’s action will further our already strong coordination with the Treasury Department to prevent foreign actors from obtaining the items and financing they seek to conduct activities that threaten U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment March 18 charging a former finance director of the Latin America division of Stericycle Inc., an international waste management company headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, for his role in an alleged scheme to pay over $10 million in bribes to foreign officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. According to court documents, between 2011 and 2016, Abraham Cigarroa Cervantes, 51, of Mexico, and others allegedly caused hundreds of bribe payments to be made to government officials in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina to obtain and retain business and to secure improper advantages for Stericycle, a U.S. securities issuer, in connection with providing waste management services.

A Canadian national was arrested in New York, for conspiring to send to undercover law enforcement officers trade secrets that belonged to his previous employer, Tesla Motors Canada subsidiary Hibar Systems Ltd. Klaus Pflugbeil and Yilong Shao allegedly used stolen confidential information – developed by Hibar – to establish their own Chinese-based competitor.  

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) joined Rep. John James (R-MI) to introduce the Enhance Cooperation Against Terrorism Act. This legislation will help improve security cooperation between countries in the Middle East and North Africa region by expediting congressional review of arms sales to U.S. partners and allies

As the federal government approaches the halfway point in FY 2024 without congressional budget approval, the White House has introduced the spending plan for FY 2025. The Commerce Department is asking for additional funds for Artificial Intelligence and Export Control Enforcement.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Diego Macedo Gonçalves do Carmo (Gonçalves), a member of Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a Brazil-based criminal organization sanctioned pursuant to counter narcotics authorities. The PCC is the most notorious organized crime group in Brazil and among the largest in Latin America, and Gonçalves is a key operative responsible for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for the organization.

The House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which calls for the forced sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner to an American person or entity.  The legislation, passed by a vote of 352-65.   197 Republican lawmakers voted for the measure and 15 against. On the Democratic side, 155 voted for the bill and 50 against.

The United States is designating sixteen entities and individuals in a transnational network that spans the Horn of Africa, United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus, for facilitating financing and money laundering for the al-Shabaab terrorist organization, a terrorist group responsible for some of the worst terrorist attacks in East Africa’s modern history.

President Biden voiced his opposition to Nippon Steel acquiring US Steel.  Labor cheered; the Chamber of Commerce jeered. "U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated," said the President.

Calls for the US to ratify the 1994 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) have been growing as signatories continue to divvy up the undersea world's resources without a place at the table for Washington. Meanwhile, congressional mining boosters have introduced a bill calling for the Administration to prepare studies of the topic of seabed mining …

March 7th, the Justice Department published its revision of the National Security Division Enforcement Policy,   This Enforcement Policy sets forth the criteria that NSD, in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and other Department litigating components, uses in determining an appropriate resolution for organizations that make a voluntary self-disclosure in export control and sanctions matters.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with EFG International AG, a Switzerland-based global private banking group. EFG has agreed to pay $3,740,442 to settle its potential civil liability for processing 873 securities transactions in apparent violation of the Cuban Asset Control Regulations, the Kingpin Act, and Executive Order 14024. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that EFG’s apparent violations were voluntarily self-disclosed and were non-egregious.

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a major American trade group, endorsed the Prohibiting Foreign Access to American Genetic Information Act of 2024  (BIOSECURE Act) and announced that WuXi AppTec would exit the membership organization. This news comes days after Rep Mike Gallagher (R-WI) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland complaining that BIO was advocating against the legislation, on behalf of WuXi AppTec and other China-based members of the trade association.