On July 23, 2025, the Trump Administration released its AI Action Plan, in accordance with President Trump's January executive order on Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI. The White House Office of Science and...more
The first quarter of FY 2025 saw at least US $982 million in proposed direct commercial sales of defense equipment, articles, and services. Sixty-four percent (16/25) of proposed sales involved NATO 5+ partners. Conflicts...more
The National Security Presidential Memorandum represents another component in the reestablishment of a more hardline approach to Cuba. Cuba Restricted List potentially to be expanded to include entities with which indirect...more
President Donald J. Trump imposes full travel/visa bans on certain foreign nationals from 12 countries (with some exceptions) and partial travel/visa restrictions on seven other countries focusing primarily on students. The...more
6/18/2025
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Donald Trump ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigration Procedures ,
National Security ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations have been amended to prohibit U.S. persons from lodging at certain properties in Cuba, incorporate restrictions on imports of Cuban alcohol and tobacco, and revoke general licenses...more
On 14 July, the same day the president signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (the act), President Trump issued the Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization (the EO) directing federal agencies to impose a range of trade...more
On 22 June President Trump signed the Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak. This executive action extends the president's April 2020 suspension...more
6/28/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
On 27 May 2020 U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo certified to Congress that the State Department no longer considers Hong Kong to have significant autonomy from China and therefore "Hong Kong does not continue to warrant...more
A deeper dive into the president's FY2021 budget request for the U.S. Department of Commerce reveals new initiatives aimed at safeguarding technology.
- The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)...more
2/28/2020
/ 5G Network ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emerging Technologies ,
Export Controls ,
NIST ,
NTIA ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On 10 January 2020, in response to missile attacks by the Iranian military targeting two U.S. bases in Iraq, the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a number of senior...more
1/14/2020
/ Blocked Person ,
Construction Project ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goods or Services ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Manufacturers ,
Mining ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
SDN List ,
Textiles ,
Trump Administration
On 26 November 2019 the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a long-awaited proposed rule (or draft regulations) to implement Executive Order 13873, "Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply...more
11/27/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Imports ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Secretary of Commerce ,
Supply Chain ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On 25 October the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State announced the establishment of a new channel for conducting due diligence on humanitarian trade with Iran.
Foreign governments and foreign financial institutions...more
11/8/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
Due Diligence ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Trump Administration
Recent actions by the U.S. Department of State underscore the Trump administration's efforts to use a "whole of government" approach to address perceived national security threats posed by China.
While these actions do not...more
On 14 October, President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13894, Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria (EO).
...more
10/18/2019
/ Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Syria ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey ,
Unauthorized Transactions
On 4 September 2019 the U.S. State Department issued "Draft 'U.S. Government Guidance for the Export of Hardware, Software and Technology with Surveillance Capabilities and/or parts/know-how'" (draft guidance).
...more
9/12/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Practices ,
Big Data ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance Management Systems ,
Draft Guidance ,
Drones ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Human Rights ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Social Media ,
Software Developers ,
Spyware ,
Surveillance ,
Telecommunications ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments
On 2 August the United States announced that it will impose a second round of sanctions on Russia pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) (22 U.S.C. § 5601 et...more
On 5 August 2019 the Trump administration issued Executive Order 13884 (the executive order) imposing sweeping sanctions against the government of Venezuela, including its agencies and instrumentalities as well as any...more
On 4 June 2019 the Trump administration implemented certain regulatory changes first announced on 17 April 2019 by National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton in a foreign policy address regarding the Trump...more
On 28 January 2019, the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) as a Specially Designated National (SDN) for operating in the oil sector of the...more
On 5 November 2018 the United States re-imposed the remaining nuclear-related secondary sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against Iran that previously had...more
11/8/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
SDN List ,
Shipping Cargo ,
Trump Administration
The past two weeks have entailed a flurry of sanctions developments related to Russia, including the issuance of a new executive order, and the designation of a number of entities by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's...more
Congress has moved closer to expanding the jurisdiction and powers of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the U.S. interagency committee that conducts national security reviews of foreign...more
8/2/2018
/ CFIUS ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
Passive Activity ,
Pending Legislation ,
Trump Administration
In furtherance of President Trump’s 8 May 2018 announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—on 27 June 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s...more
Driven by concerns of China’s acquisition of advanced U.S. technologies, the U.S. Congress is set to enact the most significant reform to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in over a decade....more
6/29/2018
/ CFIUS ,
China ,
Covered Transactions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
Passive Investments ,
Pending Legislation ,
Trump Administration
On 15 June 2018 the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the imposition of additional 25 percent tariffs (i.e., a 25 percent tax) on US$34 billion in annual imports from China. The new duties will be effective...more