Ian Cohen

Two Iranian businessmen sanctioned by the U.S. said they were illegally targeted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and asked the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to vacate their designations. Behzad Ferdows and Mehrzad Ferdows, residents of Germany and Iran, said in a Nov. 5 lawsuit that OFAC violated “constitutional norms,” statutory requirements and failed to follow due process when the agency sanctioned both men in September.

Three U.S. companies said they may have violated U.S. sanctions or export controls related to overseas sales and illegally processed payments, according to their most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The potential violations include disclosures of dealings with sanctioned businesses, including sales to Iran.

China’s new export control law (see 2010190033 and 2010220024) is expected to significantly impact trade and may include “very broad” catch-all controls, leading to compliance burdens for companies doing business in China, law firms said. Businesses should review their compliance programs to make sure they are prepared for the regulations and to avoid potential Chinese penalties, firms said, which could be severe.

U.S. export controls on foundational technologies would impede U.S. innovation and do little to reduce national security concerns, the Computer and Communications Industry Association said in a letter to the Bureau of Industry and Security. The group urged BIS to construct a “narrowly tailored” export regime or risk stymieing U.S. leadership in a range of technologies.

The agency responsible for U.S. financial sanctions lost a record number of employees last year, a trend former officials and industry lawyers say has led to longer processing times and an influx of new officials.

A pair of U.S. and South African weapon sellers failed to show that the State Department illegally debarred them from exporting goods, a U.S. court said Oct. 26. The court’s decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by U.S. weapons exporter Robert Thorne and South African gun reseller Dave Sheer and his businesses, who said they were “de facto debarred” from trading weapons by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls despite not being placed on a debarment list.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revised its license review policy for items controlled for national security reasons and destined for China, Venezuela and Russia (see 2010230007), the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 28. The rule, which takes effect Oct. 29, said BIS and other “reviewing agencies” will determine whether those exports will make a “material contribution” to the weapons systems of the countries before approving the shipments.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is placing more of an emphasis on enforcement and outreach after the committee’s jurisdiction was expanded earlier this year, trade lawyers said. The lawyers also said they are noticing more transactions being notified to CFIUS, especially those that involve personal data and critical technologies.

China has met 71% of its 2020 purchase goals for U.S. agricultural commodities under the phase one trade deal, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in an “interim report.” The Oct. 23 report, released 11 days before the election, said the U.S. is on track for its “best year ever in sales to China.”

CBP and industry had very little time to react to an executive order earlier this year that authorized export restrictions on certain medical equipment (see 2004080018) and had to scramble to adjust to new protocols, said Paulette Kolba, an export compliance consultant. Kolba, speaking during an Oct. 23 session of the Western Cargo Conference, said the abrupt restrictions were representative of a challenging year for export compliance professionals, who have had to deal with a range of regulatory changes and new compliance requirements.