New sanctions on the Russian Central Bank, Ministry of Finance and two Russian investment funds announced Feb. 28 are the “most significant action” the Treasury Department has ever taken against an economy the size of Russia, said a senior administration official that day. “We're doing exactly what we said we’d do,” the official said during a call with reporters. “We said all options are on the table, including the most severe sanctions ever contemplated against Russia.”
U.S. export controls on quantum computing and communication technologies would slow scientific progress and fail to target the most “defense-relevant applications,” the nonprofit Rand Corp. said in a recent report. The think tank said the U.S. should “not impose export controls on quantum computers or quantum communications systems at this time” or risk stifling American quantum innovation.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Feb. 18. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Feb. 25.
Several companies this month disclosed their filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. or updated the status of their ongoing CFIUS reviews. The American telecommunications company Vonage is awaiting a CFIUS decision before completing its transaction with Swedish telecom company Ericsson, Vonage said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Vonage said it doesn’t expect CFIUS to object to the deal, which should be finalized in the first half of this year.
South Korea-based KT Corp. agreed to pay $6.3 million after it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Feb. 17. The telecommunications company, “engaged in multiple schemes” to make “improper payments” to government officials in South Korea and Vietnam, the SEC said, and didn’t have adequate internal accounting controls over charitable donations, third-party payments, executive bonuses and gift card purchases.
Although the U.S should take steps to punish Chinese cyber hackers through sanctions and export controls, it shouldn't expect those tools to slow China’s cyber hacking capabilities, experts told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. They said the U.S. should use sanctions in conjunction with other defensive tools to make it harder for China to carry out hacking.
If Russia doesn’t invade Ukraine, the U.S. and allies should still move forward with some sanctions to impose consequences on the Kremlin, experts and former government officials said. Those may include more sanctions against Russian oligarchs, they said, and possibly Nord Stream 2.
More than 30 Senate Republicans introduced a bill Feb. 15 that would impose new sanctions against Russia and expedite certain U.S. arms sales as President Vladimir Putin threatens to invade Ukraine. The bill, titled the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory Act, would mandate post-invasion sanctions against the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline and various Russian government officials, military leaders, oligarchs and banks. The bill would also impose sanctions on members of Putin’s inner circle regardless of whether an invasion occurs.
Although many companies could be affected by a potential expansion of the U.S. foreign direct product rule if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada can also deploy other export restrictions that could have significant compliance implications, Baker McKenzie lawyers said. Those controls could range from more strict licensing policies to a complete trade embargo on certain Russian annexed territories.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week released an updated version of its guidelines for preparing agreements and several other newly issued or updated guidance documents. The updated agreement guidelines, which were previewed by DDTC’s licensing director last week (see 2202100020), revises and restructures the guidance “in a more logical and orderly fashion,” the agency said Feb. 14.