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Daniel Andreeff

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

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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 – Trump Administration creates framework to target Chinese connected software applications

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On January 5, 2021, President Trump issued Executive Order 13971 “Addressing the Threat Posed By Applications and Other Software Developed or Controlled By Chinese Companies” (“EO 13971”), which targets certain Chinese connected software applications. Specifically, EO 13971 prohibits transactions by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with persons that develop or control the following Chinese connected software applications, or with their subsidiaries: Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit,…

US – OFAC issues FAQs clarifying restrictions on purchasing securities of certain Chinese companies

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During the first two weeks in January, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a series of FAQs related to Executive Order 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies” (the “CCMC EO” or the “EO”). That EO aimed to prevent US investors from financing the development of the People’s Republic of China’s military, intelligence, and security capabilities by prohibiting purchases of securities of certain “Communist Chinese military companies.” Our prior blog…

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

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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…

Commerce amends National Security License Review Policy for items destined to China, Russia, and Venezuela

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On October 29, 2020, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule (the “final rule”) amending the license review policy under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for items controlled for national security (“NS”) reasons when destined to China, Russia, or Venezuela. The amendments add Venezuela to the list of countries to which the policy applies and modify the policy to replace the reference to military capabilities with a new, more nuanced standard…

US Commerce Department expands Huawei- and Entity List-related rules, further restricting Huawei’s access to semiconductors produced from US technology and software

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On August 17, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule (published in the Federal Register on August 20, 2020) (i) expanding the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) General Prohibition Three (the foreign-produced direct product rule, or the “FPDP Rule”) to further restrict Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and its affiliates designated on the BIS Entity List (collectively, “Huawei”) from acquiring foreign-produced semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US…

US – Commerce suspends license exceptions for Hong Kong that provide differential treatment relative to China

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On July 31, 2020, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to suspend the availability of all License Exceptions for Hong Kong that provide differential treatment relative to mainland China. Our blog post on prior steps taken to revoke preferential treatment for Hong Kong, including the initial announcement of these suspensions, is available here. The following partial or full License Exceptions are no longer available for exports…

US – Treasury Department formally implements CFIUS filing fees and narrows definition of “principal place of business”

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On July 28, 2020, the Department of the Treasury issued a final rule formally implementing filing fees for formal notices of transactions submitted to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). CFIUS filing fees were previously established in an interim rule on April 29, 2020, and are assessed on a sliding scale between $0 and $300,000, depending on the value of the transaction. In addition, the final rule also narrows the definition of “principal place of…

Trump Administration revokes preferential treatment Hong Kong and authorizes additional Hong Kong sanctions

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On July 14, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13936 on Hong Kong Normalization (the “Hong Kong Normalization EO”), which directs the suspension or elimination of special and preferential treatment for Hong Kong under a wide range of US laws, setting the stage for Hong Kong to be treated the same as mainland China. It also authorizes sanctions against persons involved in developing, adopting, or implementing China’s Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong…

Trump Administration authorizes sanctions targeting International Criminal Court officials

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On June 11, 2020, President Trump issued Executive Order 13928 “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court” (“ICC EO“), which authorizes the imposition of sanctions and visa restrictions on non-US ICC officials in connection with investigations into US or allied government officials or military personnel. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that established the ICC. The President declared a national emergency under…