Treasury Nominee Eyes More Focus on China, Sanctions Enforcement
John Hurley, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial crimes (see 2502120058), said April 10 that he wants to "understand better how we can tighten the focus” on Chinese companies that steal U.S. innovations.
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Hurley made his comment before the Senate Banking Committee in response to Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who said China "has built too many companies using stolen American technology" and should face stricter sanctions and increased sanctions enforcement.
Hurley said he also wants to reduce the “leakiness” that he believes has undermined U.S. sanctions for years. “It’s not so much the specific sanctions” that are imposed, he testified. “It’s the aggressiveness of the follow-up with our foreign partners, with the banks, and then just being very diligent. We reflagged that tanker, we got to do the next tanker. One step at a time.”
Lawmakers of both parties have called for stepping up oil sanctions enforcement against Iran and Russia to deprive their governments of revenue they use to fund conflict (see 2409200043 and 2504100054).
Hurley agreed with Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., on the need to address Hong Kong’s growing role in sanctions evasion, saying he supports enlisting allies to help with anti-evasion efforts.
Asked by Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., whether he favors further easing sanctions on Syria following last year’s fall of the Bashar Assad regime, Hurley said he needs to “get in the building, get deeper in the intelligence” on the issue. But he said he expects that reducing sanctions on the still-unsettled country is “going to be a complicated process, and I hope we do it very carefully.”
A State Department spokesperson said last month that the Trump administration has no plans to provide additional sanctions relief to Syria but is monitoring the country, including whether it achieves an “inclusive civilian-led government that can ensure national institutions are effective, responsive and representative” (see 2503240050).
In response to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Hurley declined to say whether he would favor increasing or decreasing sanctions on Russia, saying that’s a decision for Trump to make. If Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to resist efforts to broker a peace deal with Ukraine, Hurley said, he would expect Trump “to look to me and to the rest of the interagency to apply more pressure. And to the extent that we’re heading in a better direction, he’ll look to us to potentially relieve pressure.”
Nominated in February, Hurley is an investment firm manager and a former Army officer who served on the first Trump administration’s intelligence advisory board.