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Closing the year with a renewed focus on the People’s Republic of China, the Biden Administration imposed new export restrictions on US-origin technology to Chinese tech firms to hinder the PRC’s military and security apparatuses, sanctioned several Chinese officials in Hong Kong for purported encroachments on the region’s autonomy, and signed bipartisan legislation aimed at preventing the importation of goods produced by forced labor. Meanwhile, the State Department sanctioned a construction company for its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, as President Biden worked with allies to try to leverage NS2’s operation to deescalate tensions at the Russia-Ukraine border. Amid a notable rise in cyber-attacks worldwide, OFAC sanctioned a virtual currency exchange for facilitating ransomware transactions and the Department of Commerce blacklisted companies who develop cyber-enabled technology. Finally, enforcement actions this quarter highlight how human errors can lead to compliance gaps by undermining automated controls.
