March 2022

On March 1, 2022, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released President Joe Biden’s 2022 Trade Agenda and 2021 Annual Report.  The trade agenda highlights President Biden’s continued focus on a “worker-centered trade policy” by “promoting a broader agenda of fair competition to ensure that workers are competing on the basis of…

On March 8, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed an Executive Order banning the import into the United States of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal. The Executive Order bans:

  • The importation into the United States of Russian-origin crude oil; petroleum; petroleum fuels, oils, and products of their distillation; liquefied natural gas; coal; and coal

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On March 3, 2022, the State Department announced that the United States was sanctioning certain Russian companies deemed to design, develop, and produce items that the Russian military is using to attack Ukraine. Specifically, the following 21 entities are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14024, because “they are persons who operate or have operated in…

On March 4, 2022, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced further sanctions to target Russia’s strategic oil/gas and military/defense sectors. BIS stated that the actions are intended to further restrict access to U.S. commodities, software, and technology in order to limit Russia’s “ability to raise revenue from the sale of…

On March 3, 2022, President Joseph Biden announced that the United States was sanctioning an extensive list of “Russian elites” and their family members. In a White House press release, the president stated that, “[t]hese individuals and their family members will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, their assets in the United…

On March 2, 2022, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a Final Rule that has added new license requirements and review policies for Belarus to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) which now subject Belarus to the same sanctions that were imposed on Russia under the EAR effective February 24, 2022.…

On March 2, 2022, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) provided clarifying guidance on the implementation of several of its sanctions involving Russia.  In doing so, OFAC noted that since implementation of the sanctions, “Russia has taken steps to use exporters to act as their agents and help them raise…

The Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) announced on February 25, 2022, that effective immediately, DDTC has implemented a policy of denial for any licenses or other approvals under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for exports, reexports, retransfers, temporary imports of, and brokering activities related to defense articles and defense…