On April 24, the US Senate passed bills on aid to Taiwan and Israel, a potential ban on the TikTok social network, a REPO law that would give the green light to the confiscation of Russian assets, and new sanctions against Iran, along with nearly $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
Aid to Taiwan
The Senate approved $8.1 billion in aid to the island nation. First of all, this is an attempt to deter China from aggression against Taipei and strengthen the stability of the Indo-Pacific region.
Of this package, $2 billion is allocated to the program of foreign military financing for Taiwan and other allied countries, $1.9 billion is for arms and services to Taiwan and other regional partners of the United States. The remaining funds are for strengthening the US military presence in the region, including $3.3 billion for the construction of infrastructure for submarines, $542 million for strengthening the US military capacity in the region, and $133 million for increasing the production and development of artillery and ammunition.
Aid to Israel
$26 billion was allocated to help Israel, of which $4 billion will go to the Iron Dome and Davidʼs Sling anti-missile defense systems, and $9.3 billion to humanitarian needs.
TikTok and confiscation of Russian assets
The US Senate has voted in favor of bills on the confiscation of Russian assets in favor of Ukraine and the identification of Iranian assets, as well as on preparing to ban the social network TikTok if the Chinese company that owns ByteDance refuses to sell the social network.
As for Russian assets, Ukraine can receive approximately $8 billion of frozen Russian assets within the framework of the procedure. The US President is empowered to apply the procedure of confiscation of sovereign assets with their subsequent transfer to special funds — Compensation Fund, Ukraine Support Fund. The President can coordinate the transfer algorithm with the G7 states, the European Union, Australia and other partners of the United States.
Regarding Iran, the country, as well as those who support it and the network of Iranian proxy groups (Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.), are threatened with financial sanctions. The bill would halt Chinaʼs purchase of Iranian oil and petroleum products, and attempt to cut off the Iranian government from using the U.S. financial system.
Regarding the social network, lawmakers say that TikTok is a threat to national security because the Chinese government can force ByteDance to hand over the data of American users. The bill obliges the American TikTok to get rid of its Chinese owner ByteDance. If not, the social network will be banned.
- Now these four bills await the signature of US President Joe Biden. He promised to do it as soon as possible, on April 24.