Latest Posts
Search for:
Author

Alexandre (Alex) Lamy

Browsing

Trump Administration designates Ansarallah and issues humanitarian general licenses; Biden Administration issues general license temporarily authorizing most Ansarallah transactions

By , and 4 Mins Read

On January 19, 2021, the US State Department designated Ansarallah, a political movement and militia group in Yemen also known as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“SDGT”), and also designated three of its leaders as SDGTs. OFAC designated Ansarallah on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”) and updated the entries for the same individuals on the SDN List who had already been designated under other…

US – DOE issues Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities

By , , and 2 Mins Read

On December 17, 2020, the US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a “Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities“ (the “Prohibition Order”) pursuant to authority granted to the Secretary of Energy by Executive Order 13920 (the “BPS EO“). As of January 16, 2021, the Prohibition Order prohibits certain electric utilities that serve certain defense facilities from acquiring, importing, transferring, or installing identified bulk-power system (“BPS”) equipment and related software produced or supplied by entities subject to…

US State Department announces designation of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism

By , and 3 Mins Read

On January 11, 2021, the US State Department published a press release announcing Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism (“SST”) for allegedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists. Cuba was originally designated as an SST in 1982 but was delisted in 2015 by President Barack Obama. Cuba’s SST designation follows increasingly stringent sanctions imposed by the US Government including restriction on remittances to Cuba and further restrictions on…

US – BIS adds Chinese multinationals to the Entity List and publishes FAQs about the Huawei FPDP rule

By , and 4 Mins Read

On December 22, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) in the Federal Register adding 77 entities and individuals to the Entity List, including several prominent Chinese multinationals (together, the “Designees”). The Final Rule took effect on December 18, 2020. On the same day, BIS also published FAQs related to its recent expansion of the foreign-produced direct product rule (the “Huawei FPDP Rule”). Entity List Designations In press statements (here and here) released with the…

US – BIS amends Export Administration Regulations to implement export enforcement provisions of ECRA

By , and 3 Mins Read

On November 17, 2020, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule (“Final Rule”) amending and clarifying certain provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to make them consistent with the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). The Final Rule also amends certain provisions of the EAR (not strictly concerning ECRA implementation) regarding the issuance of export licenses and denial orders and the payment of civil penalties. For more…

US – BIS to provide exporters six-month extensions of licenses as part of pandemic response

By 1 Min Read

On October 16, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that exporters can request six-month extensions of export licenses that are set to expire on or before December 31, 2020. According to BIS, this is being done to “cut[] red tape and mak[e] it easier for exporters to drive our Nation’s economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic.” Exporters can request the extension by emailing LicenseExtensionRequest@bis.doc.gov. The original license will be…

US Government further tightens Cuban sanctions targeting Cuban travel, hotels, cigars and rum

By , and 3 Mins Read

On September 24, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a Final Rule in the Federal Resister that amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to further implement the President’s foreign policy to deny the Cuban regime sources of revenue. Major elements of the changes include: Professional (Including Business) Meetings and Conferences: The Final Rule amends a CACR general license to eliminate the authorization for CACR parties to attend or organize professional (including business)…

US – FEMA extends comment submission period on Letter of Attestation Process for PPE export restrictions

By and 1 Min Read

On September 21, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pushed back the submission deadline for comments related to the letter of attestation process for exports of certain personal protection equipment (PPE). FEMA published the request for comments in July 2020 but reportedly did not receive any. The export restrictions and letter of attestation process was created earlier this year in response to potential shortages of certain kinds of PPE as a result of the…

US – BIS adds 24 Chinese Companies to the Entity List for their activities in the South China Sea

By , and 3 Mins Read

On August 27, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule (“Final Rule”) adding 24 Chinese state-owned entities to the Entity List (the “SCS Designees”), including several subsidiaries of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), due to their ties to land reclamation efforts involving artificial islands in the South China Sea. In a press statement released with the designations, the Commerce Department cited the role played by the SCS Designees in building and militarizing…

US Government suspends private charter flights between the United States and Cuba

By , , , , and 3 Mins Read

On August 13, 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement requesting that the US Department of Transportation (DOT) suspend private charter flights to all Cuban airports. This action will suspend all charter flights between the United States and Cuba over which the DOT exercises jurisdiction, except for authorized public charter flights to and from Havana and other private charter flights authorized for limited purposes. Secretary Pompeo’s statement cites the Administration’s intent to deny economic resources to…