International Sanctions

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday targeted more than two dozen Chinese entities with export restrictions, part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to mitigate what it says is a growing national security threat from China.In adding the 28 Chinese firms and individuals to its Entity List, Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said the firms represented a range of potential national security risks including through alleged dealings with an Iranian electronics firm previously sanctioned by…

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of promises by global businesses to exit Russia. A year later, many of those companies are still there.Hard Rock International closed its Hard Rock Cafe in Moscow but says it is negotiating the end of a franchise agreement with an independent restaurant operator in St. Petersburg. Volkswagen AG VOW 0.03% , Europe’s biggest auto maker, stopped sales and production of cars in Russia and says it is in advanced discussion to sell…

Russia’s economy, restricted from Western financial networks and the U.S. dollar, has embraced a burgeoning alternative: the Chinese yuan.Energy exporters are increasingly getting paid in yuan. Russia’s sovereign-wealth fund, a war chest to support government spending burdened by battlefield costs in Ukraine, is using the Chinese currency to store its oil riches. Russian companies have borrowed in yuan, also known as renminbi, and households are stashing savings in it. The Chinese currency’s rise inside Russia deepens…

The European Union sanctioned a Dubai-based subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned shipping giant, the first time it has used new powers to hit foreign-based entities that help Moscow circumvent Western restrictions.The sanctions target Sun Ship Management, the manager of dozens of oil tankers that ferry Russian oil and natural gas around the world. The new sanctions include an EU asset freeze and ban on financing the company, which the EU said is part of government-controlled shipping company Sovcomflot. The move against Sun…

With Russia cut off from the European market, North African countries have stepped forward to become voracious buyers of its diesel and other refined oil products. The rise in trade has offered a lifeline of sorts for Moscow, providing a healthy new revenue stream, but also raised concerns about whether it is undermining Western efforts to remove Russian fossil fuels from their economies.  With Russia cut off from the European market, North African countries have stepped forward to…

U.S. aluminum companies said they supported the Biden administration’s move to impose steep tariffs on imported Russian aluminum, as analysts and executives predicted the new duties would have a minor effect on domestic aluminum costs. The White House on Friday imposed 200% tariffs on imported aluminum from Russia, as well as aluminum imports from elsewhere that include Russian aluminum, as part of a package of duties on Russian metals, minerals and chemicals worth about $2.8 billion.…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago prompted a volley of tough sanctions from the U.S. and its allies, a historic use of economic measures that will likely have lasting implications for businesses.Financial crime experts widely agree that the imposition of large sanctions packages by the U.S. and other countries on Russia marks a watershed moment in the use of economic measures as a tool of foreign policy. The U.S. and allies spearheaded a new kind of sanctions strategy: targeted, coordinated and aimed at causing…

A Western oil gambit aimed at Russia appears to be working.In recent months, the Group of Seven rich nations imposed a novel price cap on the global sale of Russian crude and refined products, while the European Union banned most Russian oil imports. Both moves, working in concert, were aimed at curbing Moscow’s energy revenue without choking off global supplies and sending prices soaring.   So far, early data on Russian energy exports and pricing suggests the two measures are keeping the oil flowing and global prices…

Amanda Morgewicz began delivering groceries for Instacart about two years ago. The extra money was good at first, but with gasoline now costing about $3.40 a gallon on average in the U.S., compared with $2.40 when she started, she is thinking harder about which orders to take on. The jobs that involve too much driving aren’t worth it anymore. “You have to be strategic about which ones you pick because you could really just be breaking even,” said Ms. Morgewicz, who lives in Walden, N.Y.…

The U.S. and its allies are preparing to increase efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia, threatening to hit foreign companies helping Moscow evade economic restrictions. In a speech Tuesday ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo is expected to say that the Kremlin is making an all-out effort to evade Western sanctions. The U.S. and its allies are preparing to increase efforts to enforce sanctions against Russia,…