As the European Union prepares revised regulations of its dual-use export controls (see 1906050039), EU industries are “divided” over whether human rights violations should be an “explicit justification” for export controls, according to a briefing of the EU review released Nov. 26. The 11-page briefing, released by the European Parliament, details how the controls would be changed, including impacts on export controls of surveillance technology, a revamp of the EU’s “licensing architecture” and a focus on terrorism and human rights.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
President Donald Trump signed bills that could remove Hong Kong from receiving special customs and export controls treatment and restrict exports of rubber bullets, tear gas and other items to the region. The bills (see 1911200036), signed Nov. 27, led to backlash from China, which said the country is prepared to retaliate. “We urge the U.S. to not continue going down the wrong path, or China will take countermeasures, and the U.S. must bear all consequences,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 28.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance on the definition of “maintenance” used in General License K, which allows certain transactions with COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. The guidance was released along with two new Frequently Asked Questions and two updated FAQs, according to a Nov. 27 notice.
Indian companies are growing increasingly frustrated with restrictive Chinese market access, leading to a more competitive relationship between India and China and a closer Indian alignment with U.S. policies toward China, a trade expert said. However, although India shares U.S. concerns over China, it disagrees with the U.S.’s approach, preferring to engage with countries such as China and Russia diplomatically rather than impose sanctions on them, the expert said.
Apple was fined about $465,000 for violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations after it hosted, sold and “facilitated the transfer” of software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Nov. 25 notice. Apple allegedly dealt in “the property and interests” of SIS d.o.o., a Slovenian software company added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List in 2015.
The Department of State published its 2019 fall agenda, including a new mention of an amendment to Category XVI of the U.S. Munitions List for Nuclear Weapons Related Articles. The change will “better harmonize” the State Department’s rules with the Department of Energy’s part 810 regulations. The rule will also ensure that items that provide the U.S. with “critical military or intelligence advantages” are listed on the USML and “remain subject to … export controls at all times.” The State Department plans to issue the rule in December.
Geneva is growing increasingly frustrated with the United States’ approach to the looming deadline of the dissolution of the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body, a former member of the body said. Although there are ways for the U.S. and WTO members to ensure the appellate body continues to operate, trade experts said they are skeptical much will get done before the Dec. 10 deadline, throwing the international rules-based trading system into question.
The Department of Commerce published its fall 2019 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of its intent to potentially control certain additive manufacturing equipment, or 3D printing, used in “energetic materials” as part of BIS’s effort to restrict sales of emerging technologies (see 1911210051). The notice of proposed rulemaking aims to gather feedback from industries while “discussions are ongoing” at the Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule in November.
The Commerce Department will likely seek multilateral support for upcoming export controls on additive manufacturing of metals, said Sean Ghannadian, a Bureau of Industry and Security official and part of Commerce’s Wassenaar Arrangement group. Commerce is also moving toward controlling certain ceramic coating technologies as part of the agency’s effort to identify and restrict sales of emerging technologies (see 1911200045), Ghannadian said.
A bipartisan group of senators asked the Commerce Department to reverse its decision to approve Huawei-related export licenses (see 1911200041), saying the move poses significant national security risks. The senators, led by Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a Nov. 21 letter to President Donald Trump that they are “concerned that the approval of additional, more permanent licenses will allow Huawei to fully resume its engagement with certain U.S. firms without an adequate assessment of the risks to national security.”