US bill creates fund to enforce oil sanctions on Russia's ghost fleet
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation from two U.S. senators from both parties introduced on Wednesday establishes a fund to enforce sanctions on the so-called ghost fleet of tankers Russia relies on to carry oil to avoid Western sanctions over its war on Ukraine.
The bill from Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, creates a fund to enforce sanctions on vessels, which sometimes also carry crude exports from Iran, a trade President Donald Trump says he wants to bring down to zero to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Russia and Iran have used the shadow fleet to avoid sanctions and send oil to big customers like China and India. If Russian oil is under a $60 per barrel price cap set by Western economies, that trade is not under sanctions, provided the tankers have not been designated. The bill also establishes an export enforcement coordination center operated by the secretary of Homeland Security.
BY THE NUMBERS
The bill establishes a Russian Sanctions Enforcement Fund at the U.S. Treasury with an initial $150 million in 2025.
Any oil seized by the U.S. would be sold and the funds over certain levels would eventually help pay down the U.S. debt, though the amount raised would be tiny compared to the $36 trillion debt.
KEY QUOTES
"Russia is continuing its malign actions by operating a 'ghost fleet' to evade U.S. sanctions, enrich its own war machine, and even aid Iranian oil smuggling," said Ernst.
The legislation will enhance intelligence sharing and equip law enforcement with the tools to go after "illicit" trade networks, Ernst said. "In addition to disrupting Moscow's malign efforts to undermine U.S. law, this bill will also arm our nation to utilize the seized assets and pay down our own debt."
Blumenthal said: "This measure will give our export controls real bite."
WHAT'S NEXT?
It's uncertain what is next for the bill in Congress, though measures on Russia and Iran are something that many lawmakers from both parties agree.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Dollar steady as investors monitor Israel-Iran conflict ahead of Federal Reserve
The U.S. dollar held on to gains against major currencies early on Wednesday, buoyed by demand for safety as conflict between Israel and Iran kept investors on edge ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates later in the day. Israel has pounded Iran over the past six days to halt its nuclear activity and has asserted the need for a change of government in the Islamic republic. The U.S. military is also bolstering its presence in the region, Reuters reported, sparking speculation of U.S. intervention which investors fear could spread into a region replete with energy resources, supply chains and infrastructure. Against this backdrop, the dollar has found support as a safe bid, firming roughly 1% against the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and euro since Thursday, helping it shave declines from earlier in the year. The greenback had lost more than 8% earlier in the year due to eroding confidence in the U.S. economy amid trade policies. "The dollar is still a safe haven because of its depth and liquidity so, yes the structural forces are diluting the dollar safe-haven activities, but they're not eroding them completely," said currency strategist Rodrigo Catril at National Australia Bank. "But in a scenario of big risk aversion, the dollar will still gain support but maybe not to the same it has managed in the past." The dollar firmed as much as 0.1% against the yen on Wednesday to touch a one-week top. It was last at 145.21 yen. In early Asia trade, the Swiss franc was flat at 0.816 a dollar and the euro was up 0.1% at $1.149. A broader index tracking the greenback against six other currencies was little changed after a 0.6% jump in the previous trading session. A jump in crude oil prices to about $75 a barrel has also weighed on the euro and yen given the European Union and Japan are primarily net crude importers as opposed to the U.S. which is a net exporter. Investors' next point of focus is the Fed which is set to decide whether to change its interest rates. Recent data showed the U.S. economy was slowing amid President Donald Trump's erratic policymaking style, and higher crude prices due to conflict in the Middle East is also complicating the Fed's task. Traders expect the central bank to leave borrowing costs unchanged and will be keen to hear the Fed's outlook for interest rates this year and the overall health of the economy. "In the very near term a cautious message will probably be reemphasised, but what will be interesting is how they interpret and navigate the new forecast, which we think will show a lower growth path alongside potentially stickier inflation," Catril said. The Bank of Japan on Tuesday was first among major central banks to announce a rate decision in the latest round of policy meetings worldwide. It left rates unchanged and said it will decelerate its bond tapering plan to calm a recent selloff in bond markets. Central bank verdicts are also due from Britain, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden later in the week. Signs that trade uncertainty was damaging countries across the globe were evident as Japan reported a decline in exports in May for the first time in eight months. An area of frustration for investors was a Group of Seven meeting in Canada yielding little on the tariff front, ahead of Trump's early July deadline for additional levies. Trump said Japan was being "tough" in trade talks and the European Union had not yet offered what he considered a fair deal.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Man charged with killing prominent lawmaker could face a rarity for Minnesota: the death penalty
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another could face something that is a rarity for Minnesota but could become more common under the Trump administration: the death penalty. Minnesota abolished capital punishment in 1911, and the state's last execution was a botched hanging in 1906. But federal prosecutors announced charges against Vance Boelter on Monday that can carry the death penalty. It's not unheard of for state and federal prosecutors to both pursue criminal cases for the same offense, especially in high-profile matters. In this case federal authorities essentially grabbed the lead from the state prosecutor, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Boelter had been scheduled to make his first court appearance on state charges Monday, but instead marshals took him from the county jail to the U.S. courthouse in St. Paul, where he appeared on the more serious federal charges. Boelter is accused of fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Before that, authorities say, he also shot and wounded another Democrat, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away. He surrendered Sunday night after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history. The federal case Two of the six federal counts can carry the death penalty, something federal prosecutors have not sought in a Minnesota-based case since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. 'Will we seek the death penalty? It's too early to tell. That is one of the options,' Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Monday at a news conference where he revealed new details of what he described as a meticulously planned attack. They included allegations that Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other lawmakers that night and had dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Boelter's federal defenders have declined to comment on the case, and he has not entered a plea. On her first day in office in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi lifted a moratorium on federal executions that was imposed under the Biden administration in 2021. Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison. Bondi has since authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in at least three cases, including against Luigi Mangione for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In the other two cases, the Justice Department has said it is seeking the death penalty against defendants charged with killing fellow prison inmates. President Donald Trump's first administration carried out 13 federal executions, more than the administration of any other president in modern history. The state's case The federal intervention in Boelter's case appeared to irritate Moriarty, the county's former chief public defender, who was elected on a police reform and racial justice platform in 2022 after the police killing of George Floyd. At a news conference Monday to announce the state charges, Moriarty gave only vague answers in response to questions about the interplay between the federal and state investigations. But she acknowledged 'there's a tension' and said federal officials 'can speak for themselves.' Moriarty said she intends to press forward in state court regardless and to seek an indictment for first-degree murder for the killings of the Hortmans, which would carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Tuesday. As evidence of the tensions, the county attorney refused to clarify how Boelter' first hearings would play out. Court records show that Boelter was called for a first appearance in Hennepin County on Monday and that because he was not there as he was in federal custody, the judge issued a bench warrant as a formality, as requested by prosecutors. 'Usually murder cases are overwhelmingly handled in state courts,' said Mark Osler, a death penalty expert at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. 'Clearly this is something of national interest. And that seemed to play a role in the decision that the Justice Department is making here.' Osler, who formerly served as Moriarty's deputy county attorney and head of her criminal division, as well as assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, acknowledged that there are often tensions between state and federal prosecutors. 'There's no doubt that it's complicated,' Osler said. 'And it's hard to avoid the sense of the older sibling grabbing something away from the younger sibling.' What's next If federal officials do pursue the death penalty, Osler said, they will face an unusual challenge: 'a jury pool drawn from the citizens of a state that has rejected the death penalty for over 100 years. It's not the same as choosing people in a state where there's a history of support for the death penalty, such as Texas.' After his federal court appearance, Boelter was taken to the Sherburne County Jail in suburban Elk River, where federal prisoners are often held. Thompson told reporters that the federal case 'does not nullify the state charges. They remain in place. ... My expectation based on prior cases is the federal case, the federal charges, will be litigated first, but the state charges won't necessarily go anywhere.' 'There's a natural competitiveness that occurs sometimes between jurisdictions, but you have to hope that in the end, they're all facing the same way where there's something as important to public safety as this case is,' Osler said. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Transatlantic airfares slump as Western Europeans skip US travel
By Doyinsola Oladipo and Joanna Plucinska NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Airfares from Europe to the United States have dropped to rates not seen since before the pandemic, as travelers from Western Europe lead a pullback in travel to the U.S. that is expected to continue through at least July. Overseas arrivals to the United States fell 2.8% in May from a year ago, according to preliminary data from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Travel from Western Europe fell 4.4% in May although travel from Eastern Europe rose 4.6% in the same period. Forward bookings suggest sustained declines are on the horizon, with total inbound bookings to the U.S. in July down 13% year-over-year, according to OAG Aviation, an analytics firm. Transatlantic airfare has been declining since the first quarter when Europeans started reconsidering travel to the U.S. after President Donald Trump suggested annexing Greenland, launched a global trade war, and issued orders that focus on stricter border policy. A stronger dollar has also deterred some trips. In March, travel from Western Europe fell 17% year-over-year, according to the NTTO. Average round-trip economy airfares for over 50 routes from the U.S. to Europe in the first quarter were down an average of 7% year-over-year, with rates to fly between Atlanta, Georgia, and London, down 55%, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm. As American consumers have been bargain-hunting and waiting closer to their departure dates to finalize travel plans, the decline in demand from Europe is another factor contributing to cheaper travel. "Fewer seats filled by European travelers to the U.S., and a slower pace of growth in U.S. outbound to Europe than last year, will tend to cast 2025 as a tougher year to make money on transatlantic routes," said Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, a subsidiary of Oxford Economics. This summer, the price of round-trip tickets from the U.S. to Europe is down 10% compared with a year ago, travel booking app Hopper said. Average fares of $817 per ticket are in line with prices to Europe in the summer of 2019 before the pandemic. Major carriers, including Air France KLM and Germany-based Lufthansa, expect slowing activity. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said the company expects weaker demand in the third quarter, while Air France KLM CEO Ben Smith said the company is seeing a "slight pullback" in transatlantic traffic and will slash prices to keep cabins on its transatlantic flights full. Airlines including Lufthansa and U.S. air carrier United Airlines say higher demand from U.S. travelers flying to Europe is offsetting the decline of Europeans flying the opposite direction. United said international bookings from Europe fell 6% in the first quarter, but added that U.S.-originating demand made up for the pullback. Rival Delta Air Lines said 80% of its long-haul international demand originates from the U.S., and fares in the region are "significantly higher" than in the rest of the world. Lufthansa said it plans to market its transatlantic flights to more Americans given the higher demand, despite travel from Western Europe showing moments of recovery. Travel from the region to the U.S. increased 12.1% in April before falling again in May, according to data from the NTTO. As of mid-May, there are 4.3% more international flights scheduled to depart from U.S. airports for international destinations this summer, said Hopper. "We feel really good about the transatlantic market," American Airlines CFO Devon May said at a Wolfe Research transportation and industrials conference in May. Sign in to access your portfolio
