The House on Nov. 3 passed a bill that could lead to new primary and secondary sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process or accept petroleum exported from or originating in Iran. The Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, passed 342-69, could also lead to sanctions on any entity that “transports, offloads, or otherwise deals in petroleum originating in Iran, including vessels engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum,” according to a press release from Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who introduced the bill alongside Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

The House on Nov. 1 voted 363-46 to pass a bill that would impose sanctions on any person, entity or state that offers financial or material support to Hamas and its affiliates. Along with financial sanctions, the bill calls on the president to block exports of any item on the U.S. Munitions List or Commerce Control List to any foreign state that provides support or “engages in a significant transaction” with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Lion’s Den or “any affiliate or successor thereof.” The administration would also have to submit regular reports to Congress detailing the “disposition of the assets and activities” of those groups, a list of foreign states knowingly giving them support and more. The legislation includes certain exceptions, including for humanitarian aid.

Two House members from California asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to talk to Turkey about its new retaliatory tariffs on American almonds. In an Oct. 31 letter, Reps. John Duarte (R) and Jim Costa (D), called the tariffs "burdensome" and said they give Australia, Spain, Uzbekistan and Iran an "unjustified competitive advantage over US almonds in the Turkish market."

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the Treasury Department’s new sanctions this week against the Myanmar state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (see 2310310028), saying the measures will “disrupt the junta’s access to the U.S. financial system and curtail its ability to commit further human rights violations.”

The Treasury Department should “urgently” implement the administration's executive order on outbound investments (see 2308090066), including by adopting a broad definition of the three technology sectors covered under the order, said Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the chairs of the House Select Committee on China. The lawmakers also called for the U.S. to do more to convince allies to put in place their own outbound investment screening tools and to pursue additional restrictions on outbound passive investments, including in index funds.

The Biden administration should warn Mexico that it will be hit with sanctions if the country continues to “circumvent U.S. policy” by selling oil to Cuba, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a post on Medium last week. Rubio cited shipping data in a Reuters report that showed Mexico had surpassed Russia in providing oil to Cuba, although Mexico has said the oil is for humanitarian purposes.

The U.S. should be doing more to sanction people responsible for the recent “wave of coups and violence” in West Africa and the Sahel, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting this week. Cardin, committee chair, noted that five countries in the region have experienced coups since 2020 -- Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger -- and the U.S. should be holding parties in those nations responsible.

The House Select Committee on China's leaders said a recent announcement that China would restrict exports of graphite, which is used in electric vehicle batteries, shows how urgent it is to pass legislation to respond to China's actions.

The Commerce Department should add China-affiliated public security bureaus and others to the Entity List for their involvement in a “mass DNA collection project” in Tibet, chairs of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China said in a letter this month to the Biden administration. They said Chinese officials in Tibet have likely purchased DNA kits and replacement parts from American biotechnology company Thermo Fisher Scientific and are using those products for “political identification,” racial profiling and other “egregious” human rights abuses.

The U.S. was wrong to suspend certain sanctions against Venezuela last week, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said, adding that the Biden administration gave in to the Nicolas Maduro-led government’s “empty promises for insignificant electoral reforms.” McCaul, who chairs House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration's decision to “imprudently” grant “sweeping sanctions relief” to the country’s oil, gas and gold sectors will “fill the regime’s coffers and allow Maduro to ensure next year’s presidential elections, which have yet to be scheduled, are neither free nor fair at the expense of the Venezuelan people fighting for democracy.”