The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation said it will move forward with the imposition of a second round of trade sanctions against Russia for its alleged role last year in poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom.
In a notice published in the Aug. 26 Federal Register, the State Department said its counterparts at the Commerce and Treasury departments will implement export and financial controls, respectively, against Russian state-controlled enterprises and organizations involved in the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons.
Once the latest sanctions are implemented, the State Department said licenses for exports and reexports of goods and technology controlled for chemical and biological weapons (CB) purposes, which are destined to Russian state-owned and state-funded enterprises, will be reviewed by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on a “case-by-case basis,” with a “presumption of denial.”
The State Department said, however, there will be license exceptions for goods and technology exports involving space flight, civil aviation, commercial end-users in Russia for civil end-uses, exports to U.S. subsidiaries and foreign companies in Russia, and deemed export licenses for Russian nationals working in the U.S.
Under the second round of sanctions, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will prohibit U.S. banks from handling non-ruble-denominated bonds issued by the Russian government or providing non-ruble-denominated loans to Russian state enterprises.
Further details related to the Commerce and Treasury department’s imposition of the sanctions are still forthcoming.
Earlier this month, as reported by American Shipper, the State, Commerce and Treasury departments committed to implementing President Donald Trump’s Aug. 1 executive order imposing a second round of sanctions against Russia.
The president promulgated the executive order under the International Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act and the 1991 Chemical Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.
On March 4, 2018, Russian agents allegedly attempted to kill former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, in the U.K., using a deadly nerve agent manufactured in Russia.