April 2024

On April 29, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended Russia-related General License No. 8I, once again extending the authorization to conduct transactions involving Vnesheconombank, Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank, VTB Bank, Alfa-Bank, Rosbank, Bank Zenit, Bank Saint-Petersburg, and the Central Bank of Russia that are…

On April 30, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim final rule (IFR) updating the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to enhance the control structure for firearms and related items under BIS’s jurisdiction. This IFR will be effective on May 30, 2024, and public comment will be accepted until…

On April 24, 2024, President Joseph Biden signed into law emergency supplemental appropriations (Pub. Law No. 118-50) that, among numerous measures, included the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This now enacted law is most widely known for its efforts to ban Chinese-owned TikTok and comes after prior attempts to…

On April 26, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a final rule introducing the new License Exception MED that enables delivery of humanitarian medical devices to the citizens of Russia, Belarus, and the Crimea region of Ukraine, and the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.  This license exception is an effort…

On April 18, 2024, the Departments of Commerce and the Treasury announced combined export control restrictions and economic sanctions against Iran for its attack on Israel on April 13, 2024. These actions are intended “to degrade and disrupt key aspects of Iran’s malign activity, including its UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicles] program and the revenue the…

On April 17, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela-related General License 44A, “Authorizing the Wind Down of Transactions Related to Oil or Gas Sector Operations in Venezuela.” This license replaces General License (GL) 44 that was issued in October 2023 allowing for certain activities in this…

To “further enhance defense industrial base cooperation and technology innovation with Australia and the United Kingdom,” the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued an interim final rule (“IFR”) on April 18, 2024 to ease various licensing requirements prescribed by the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) for exports, reexports, or transfers (in-country) to…

Note: For more information on this topic, please see our client update of April 23rd.

On April 17, 2024, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation targeting the acts, policies, and practices of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This action results from a…

On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as Chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to enhance certain CFIUS procedures. This proposed rule would modify certain provisions in the CFIUS regulations pertaining to: (i) penalties for violations of statutory or…

On April 12, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) again extended previous Russia-related General License (GL) 13 by issuing a revised GL 13I, “Authorizing Certain Administrative Transactions Prohibited by Directive 4 under Executive Order 14024,” which states that U.S. persons are authorized to pay taxes, fees, or import…