U.S., EU and other sanctions and export control regimes continue to target the Russian defense and energy sectors, restricting access to both military and dual use items. This creates demand pressure on the Russia side and as a result potential added compliance risk for exporters. Companies often ask “what are…
On May 13, 2015 Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, introduced the Energy Supply and Distribution Act of 2015 (S.1312), which if enacted would lift the crude oil export ban. Co-sponsored with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and twelve Republicans, the bill would permit…
Congress is currently fiercely debating whether to grant the President fast track trade authority, allowing to him to finalize free trade agreements with the EU and a dozen Pacific Rim trading partners. While this debate caused President Obama to join with Republicans to overcome the objections of trade-skeptic Democrats, the…
The United States, UK, France, Germany, China and Russia announced in early April the parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran’s Nuclear Program. However, a final agreement will not occur—if it occurs at all—until June 2015. Savvy companies are planning now for either a potential relaxation of…
On Friday, May 8, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which would give Congress a role in approving any agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear program. The Senate approved the bill 98-1, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) the only dissenting vote. The House of Representatives could…
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted specific licenses to operate passenger/cargo ferries from the United States to Cuba earlier this week. Havana Ferry Partners LLC announced on its Facebook page on May 5, 2015 that it had received approval from both OFAC and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of…
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit last week to the United States was a huge success. Through the visit, President Obama and the Prime Minister affirmed the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as a trade agreement, but also as a strategic security tool for the Asia Pacific region. The…
The 17th EU-Ukraine summit took place in Kyiv, Ukraine on 27 April 2015, being the first summit taking place under the framework of the Association Agreement, the treaty between the EU and Ukraine that establishes a political and economic association between the parties. The summit was an opportunity for the…
It has been reported that Russia has proposed the sale of S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems to Iran. According to the Russian News Agency TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia’s previous voluntary embargo of sales of military equipment to Iran is no longer needed due to the…
Major new free trade agreements are on the horizon. For the past several years, the Obama Administration has been negotiating two new major free trade agreements: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Partnership Agreement (TTIP). Because of divisions within the Democratic Party regarding trade agreements, previously it…