President Donald Trump on May 8 withdrew U.S. participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, setting the stage for sanctions suspended under the agreement to once again take effect. In a presidential memorandum announcing the decision, Trump directed the State and Treasury departments to “immediately begin taking steps to re-impose” all U.S. sanctions “waived in connection with the JCPOA,” and do so “as expeditiously as possible.” The memo set a deadline of November 2018 for putting the sanctions back in place.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the "the largest North Korea-related sanctions tranche to date," the Treasury Department said in a Feb. 23 news release. The sanctions are "aimed at disrupting North Korean shipping and trading companies and vessels to further isolate the regime and advance the U.S. maximum pressure campaign," it said. The action "targets one individual, 27 entities, and 28 vessels located, registered, or flagged in North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama, and Comoros. " Concurrently, Treasury, the State Department and the U.S. Coast Guard issued an advisory "alerting the public to the significant sanctions risks to those continuing to enable shipments of goods to and from North Korea," the release said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Congolese men Feb. 5, freezing their U.S. assets and adding them to the Specially Designated Nationals List. The action came a few days after the United Nations Security Council sanctioned them -- militia leaders Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga, Guidon Shimiray Mwissa, Lucien Nzabamwita and Brigadier General Muhindo Akili Mundos. The Treasury Department said all four are responsible for human rights violations and prolonging the country's civil war.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added four individuals and four entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list under transnational criminal organization designations, and another 21 individuals and 21 entities under Ukraine sanctions designations, including 12 entities subject to sectoral sanctions, OFAC said in two notices.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added six individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under terrorism sanctions designations, OFAC said in a notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 24 added a bevy of new people, companies and ships to the Specially Designated Nationals List for trading with North Korea and aiding its weapons of mass destruction and other illicit programs, the Treasury Department said in a press release. The newly listed companies include a North Korean defense contractor and a number of North Korean shipping companies and vessels. Also among the additions were two Chinese trading companies -- Beijing Chengxing Trading Co., Ltd. and China Dandong Kumsang Trade Co., Ltd. -- each of which purportedly conducted trade with North Korea defense companies, OFAC said. China Dandong Kumsang also goes by the names Dandong Jinxiang Trade Co., Ltd.; Dandong Metal Company; and Jinxiang Trading Company, according to a listing of recent additions to the SDN list.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed one individual from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and updated one existing individual, under narcotics kingpin designations, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added four individuals and three entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under transnational criminal organization (TCO) designations, OFAC said. OFAC also updated six other TCO entries for individuals. In a separate action, OFAC removed five individuals and three entities from TCO designations on the SDN list, the agency said. In yet another action, OFAC added two individuals to the SDN list under North Korea designations, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added 20 individuals and 37 entities to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, under Magnitsky designations, OFAC said (here and here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has “frozen” the granting of licenses for aircraft exports to Iran for about the last year, and likely won’t issue such licenses for the foreseeable future, Boeing global trade controls chief counsel Frederick Shaheen said during a Practising Law Institute export controls conference Dec. 15. Boeing has had licenses pending approval with OFAC as it has publicly announced agreements with Iranian airlines to export aircraft, Shaheen said, including deals with Iran Aseman Airlines (see 1704100063) and Iran Air (see 1612190043). “It’s a different time politically; everything is frozen,” he said. “Until there’s some definition on what this [Trump] administration wants to do going forward, I don’t think anybody’s going to be getting licenses.”