The U.S. shouldn't pursue sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and instead should focus on working with European countries to find an alternative to the Russian gas pipeline project, said Daniel Fried, the former senior director of the National Security Council for presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Although Fried said the project is a “dumb idea,” he also said he’s “not a big fan of trying to kill Nord Stream 2” with sanctions. “Let's find another way than a sanctions war with Germany,” Fried said during a March 30 event hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.

The Joe Biden administration’s trade agenda should prioritize export control cooperation with Europe, work to remove trade barriers for U.S. exporters in Asian markets and address unfair Chinese trade practices, a U.S. technology industry group said. If U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai promotes the right trade “goals,” the U.S. can “re-establish” its technology leadership and boost export competitiveness, the Information Technology Industry Council said in a March 30 letter to Tai.

Experts in the United Kingdom are expressing a skepticism over the effectiveness of Britain's new freeport system, questioning the ports' ability to attract new investment and provide duty relief for imports. They point to accusations of the political nature of the system's execution and the fallacy that the U.K. couldn't have set up the freeports when it was part of the EU, when in fact they existed on England's shores from 1984 to 2012. A lot of “magical thinking” goes into freeports, Steptoe & Johnson's Christophe Bondy said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Italian gas equipment manufacturer $950,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 26 notice. The company, Nordgas S.r.l., knowingly reexported 27 shipments of U.S.-origin “air pressure switches” to Iran, OFAC said, and caused a U.S. company to “indirectly” export goods to Iran.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revised the Commerce Control List and the Export Administration Regulations to implement changes made during the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary, the agency said in a final rule released March 26. Along with revising various Export Control Classification Numbers and correcting language in the EAR, the rule eliminated certain reporting requirements for encryption items, which BIS expects to “reduce the regulatory burden” for U.S. exporters. The changes take effect March 29.

The Magnitsky Act is set to sunset in 2022, and the bipartisan authors of the original sanctions bill asked civil society representatives in the U.S. and Africa how the renewal should be shaped.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two more Myanmar entities, issued four new general licenses and published two new frequently asked questions to provide guidance on certain exempted transactions with Myanmar. The sanctions and guidance, issued March 25, came days after OFAC designated entities and officials associated with the country’s military-led coup last month (see 2103220036) and about three weeks after the Commerce Department increased export restrictions for shipments to Myanmar (see 2103040075).

U.S. measures to expand foreign investment screening are having an increasingly chilling impact on Chinese companies’ willingness to invest in the U.S., said Jingyuan Shi, a media and technology lawyer with Simmons & Simmons. As the Biden administration continues to implement its China strategy, including its administration of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., some Chinese technology companies “are adopting a wait-and-see attitude,” especially amid the U.S.-China “trade tension atmosphere,” Shi said during a March 24 webinar hosted by the law firm.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 15-19 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The U.S. should be doing more to restrict Chinese semiconductor companies from buying U.S. equipment, which is strengthening China’s military and ceding U.S. technology leadership, researchers said. Although the U.S. should bolster domestic policies to help the semiconductor industry -- including through supply chain, manufacturing and research incentives (see 2102240052) -- the researchers said the Commerce Department’s export controls include loopholes for companies that sell advanced technologies to China.