The U.K. this week issued a new warning to shipowners and brokers seeing large profits from selling older ships to unknown buyers, saying they need to make sure they aren’t selling to a person with ties to Russia or who plans to violate Russian oil sanctions.

The U.S. declined to prosecute a Massachusetts biochemical company that was part of an illegal export scheme involving China, the first time DOJ’s National Security Division has offered a corporate declination under its recently updated voluntary self-disclosure program.

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The U.S. hasn’t done enough to coordinate its China-related trade restrictions with U.S. allies, especially its semiconductor export controls, Craig Allen, head of the U.S.-China Business Council, told Biden administration officials this week.

A Virginia-based technology company said it received warning letters from both the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control after disclosing possible Russia-related sanctions violations to both agencies last year.

U.S. export controls may not be the best way to counter China’s legacy semiconductor industry, especially because the EU and other allies aren’t likely to adopt similar restrictions, researchers said this month. The researchers said they expect the U.S. to turn more frequently to entity-based controls -- including through the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List -- and other national security tools to address risks relating to more mature-node chips.

EU industry gave a wide range of feedback on the European Commission’s January white paper on export controls, saying they support the idea of a new EU-wide forum to coordinate on export restrictions and urged the commission to do more to make sure new controls are introduced evenly across all member states. Others said the EU should set binding deadlines for licensing decisions, fix the bloc’s “vague” export definition for intangible technology transfers, and make it easier for companies to navigate EU member states’ increasingly conflicting export rules.

U.S. companies doing business in Turkey should be “alert” about possible violations of U.S. antiboycott laws after Turkey announced a ban on trade with Israel earlier this month (see 2405030020), the Bureau of Industry and Security said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is updating the scope of an Iran-related general license to limit the computing power threshold for laptops, tablets and other personal computing devices that can be exported or reexported to Iran. The agency also revised its Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations to make “additional conforming changes.”

The price cap on Russian oil has so far failed to stop Moscow from earning revenue for its war against Ukraine, witnesses told the U.K. Parliament this week. While one witness said the U.K. should consider placing new restrictions on certain energy purchases from companies that are still buying Russian oil, another said that may be too complicated for businesses to comply with.