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Inessa Owens

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US – Biden Administration removes Ansarallah from the SDN List and revokes its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

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On February 16, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Ansarallah, a political movement and militia group in Yemen also known as the Houthis, from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”). Ansarallah had been added to the SDN List on January 19, 2021, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“SDGT”). As a result of the removal, US Persons no longer require authorization from…

US – Commerce amends the EAR to implement revised Unmanned Aerial System licensing review policy

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On January 12, 2021, the Department of Commerce issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement recent licensing review policy changes for exports of US-origin unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also known as “drones.” Our prior blog posts on UAS export policy developments are available here and here. The Final Rule implements the more flexible export license review policy applicable to a specific subset of UAS with maximum airspeeds of less than 800 km…

US – Commerce publishes interim final rule on Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain; Comments due March 22, 2021

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On January 19, 2021, the Commerce Department published an interim final rule to implement President Trump’s 2019 Executive Order 13873 on “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain” (“Interim Rule”). The Interim Rule was issued following the closure of the public comment period on January 10, 2021 on the proposed rules issued on November 27, 2019 (“Proposed Rules”) to implement Executive Order 13873. For more information on Executive Order 13873 and the Proposed Rules, please see our blog…

US – FEMA modifies and extends export restrictions for PPE and other medical products

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On December 31, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a temporary final rule extending and modifying export restrictions on certain types of medical supplies and personal protection equipment products (“PPE Products“) used in response to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. The new rule became effective December 31, 2020; extends previously-imposed export restrictions on covered PPE Products to June 30, 2021; and adds certain types of syringes and needles to the list of covered PPE Products. We…

US – Commerce removes Hong Kong as a separate designation under the EAR

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On December 23, 2020, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), in further implementation of Executive Order 13936 (EO 13936), to remove provisions that provide differential and preferential treatment for exports, reexports, and transfers of items to Hong Kong as compared to China. As a result of these changes, Hong Kong will be removed as a separate destination on the Commerce Country Chart and in other places in the EAR, which…

US Government restricts remittances to Cuba

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On October 27, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a final rule amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) restricting certain remittance-related transactions to and from Cuba (the “Final Rule”). OFAC also published updated and new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to transactions with Cuba. Significantly, the recent amendments will have the practical effect of making remittances to Cuba more difficult. The Final Rule becomes effective on November 26, 2020 and is…

President Trump signs into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act

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On July 14, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (“HKAA”) providing for the imposition of sanctions on foreign persons who materially contribute to the undermining of Hong Kong’s autonomy by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and foreign financial institutions who engage in significant transactions with such foreign persons. During a press conference announcing the signing of the HKAA, President Trump also indicated that he had signed an Executive…

US Government adds thirty three entities located in China, Hong Kong and Cayman Islands to the Entity List

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On June 5, 2020, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published: (1) a final rule adding nine Chinese entities to the Entity List (the “XUAR Designees”), and (2) a final rule adding twenty four entities located in China, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands to the Entity List (the “Military Designees”). Both sets of designations were announced by the Commerce Department on May 22, 2020 (see announcements here and here), but their designations are effective as of their…