Canada announced new sanctions this week against two military officials with the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces, the two groups locked in monthslong fighting over control of the country. The designations target Algoney Hamdan Dagalo Musa, an RSF major and procurement director, and Mirghani Idris Suleiman, an SAF general. Canada said both officials are linked to the violence against civilians and other human rights violations in Sudan. Both have been sanctioned by the U.S. (see 2410240006 and 2410080018).
The U.S., the U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned Zservers, a Russia-based internet infrastructure service provider, for supporting Russian ransomware attacks, the Treasury Department said. Treasury said Zservers specifically aids Russia-based LockBit, which the U.S. has called one of the world’s most active ransomware groups (see 2405070020).
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a correction this week to its January interim final rule that created new lists of trusted chip designers and service providers; imposed a broader, worldwide license requirement for chip foundries and packaging companies shipping certain advanced chips captured by Export Control Classification Number 3A090; and made other updates to its existing chip export controls (see 2501150040). The correction, effective Feb. 11, revises 3A090 to correct that ECCN's license requirement.
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EU lawmakers and the European Commission offered a strong rebuke this week of the U.S.’s latest export controls on advanced artificial intelligence chips, saying the restrictions could slow European AI technology innovation and set unfair buying restrictions across member states.
Julie Edelstein, the former acting principal deputy chief of DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, has joined the Wiggin and Dana law firm as a partner focused on national security, export controls and white-collar issues. Edelstein, who left DOJ last month, served as coordinator of the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a joint group created by DOJ, the Commerce Department and other agencies to pool resources toward investigations of trade violations involving critical technologies (see 2411250027 and 2302160019).
The U.K. updated its trade sanctions license this week to clarify certain situations wherein its Department for Business and Trade won’t issue an import license. The guidance said traders must apply for an import license before the goods are transported to the U.K., and the government won’t grant a license if an application is made for goods already at the U.K. border. It also won’t issue a license if the goods are “otherwise held in storage in the U.K. prior to making a customs declaration,” the guidance said. “It is a criminal offence to import sanctioned goods without the necessary” license.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles last week to discuss the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) agreement, under which the countries share defense technology. Hegseth said President Donald Trump is “very familiar with the agreement and equally supportive of it,” according to a Pentagon press release published after the meeting. Hegseth added that “this is not a mission in the Indo-Pacific that America can undertake by itself. It has to [include] robust allies and partners. Technology sharing and subs are a huge part of it."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its license application portal with new functionality for people and organizations applying for sanctions licenses, the agency announced this week. The portal now allows users to create an account, which will let them save and return to an application in progress, view a list of their applications and case statuses in a single dashboard, save frequently used contacts for “easier data entry,” replicate a previous application, and more. Users who register for an account will need to enter a sign-in email and create a password, OFAC said.
The first few weeks of the new Trump administration have shown that there appears to be a “fair amount of continuity” from the Biden administration on certain China trade policies, including around export controls and outbound investment restrictions, a former Biden National Security Council official said.