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- U.S. Tightens Cuba Embargo; Senate Passes Iran/Russia Sanctions Bill; Arab Nations Boycott Qatar
U.S. Tightens Cuba Embargo; Senate Passes Iran/Russia Sanctions Bill; Arab Nations Boycott Qatar
June 19, 2017, Covington Alert
On Friday, June 16, 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced a tightening of the United States’ long-standing Cuba embargo, rolling back some of the easing implemented during the Obama Administration and described in our prior client alerts. The Trump Administration’s approach is outlined in a National Security Presidential Memorandum, but the full scope of this policy shift will not be known until the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) adopts new regulations in the coming months. As OFAC clarified in its Frequently Asked Questions, none of the changes announced by the President last week take effect until the new regulations are issued.
The U.S. Senate has also passed a bill that would codify existing sanctions and impose new sanctions against Russia, and also impose new sanctions against Iran. This bill now goes to the House of Representatives. Additionally, the boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries raises issues under the U.S. antiboycott regimes administered by the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments. These recent developments potentially present legal risks for companies operating in Russia and the Middle East.
September 22, 2017, Covington Alert
President Trump has issued an Executive Order (“the Order”), effective September 21, 2017, imposing additional sanctions on persons doing business in certain sectors of the North Korean economy or engaging in certain trade or financial activities involving North Korea. President Trump issued the Order in response to North Korea’s recent intercontinental ...
August 29, 2017, Covington Alert
Last week, President Trump issued an Executive Order imposing new economic sanctions on the Venezuelan government in response to President Nicolás Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian actions. The new sanctions expand the U.S. restrictions against Venezuela, which previously were comprised of sanctions against a few key individuals, but they do not amount to a ...
January 13, 2017, Covington Alert
In response to “positive actions” taken by the Government of Sudan over the past six months, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced today an amendment to the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations (“SSR,” 31 C.F.R. Part 538) that effectively suspends virtually all of the U.S. sanctions against Sudan by authorizing ...