The Bureau of Industry and Security remains months away from resolving a temporary pause in new firearm export licenses that was supposed to expire in January, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said this week.
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.
The U.S., Australia and the U.K. are making “progress” on creating license-free defense trade among the three countries under the AUKUS partnership, they said in a joint statement this week. They also said they are considering involving Japan in the effort.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting a rule that could ease certain export restrictions on Australia and the U.K. as the State Department works to loosen similar restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations as part of the AUKUS partnership.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week threatened sanctions against Chinese banks if they facilitate payments that aid Russia’s military and urged Beijing against placing unclear restrictions on sales from certain U.S. chip companies, saying American firms want more transparency in China.
The U.S. and the EU continued to discuss export controls, investment screening and other economic statecraft tools during the sixth meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council last week, saying they have made progress harmonizing export licensing decisions and plan to soon launch a new investment screening initiative. The two sides also renewed a mechanism to pinpoint and prevent global semiconductor supply chains issues and announced a new forum to coordinate on critical minerals trade.
Banks are facing rising pressure from regulators to catch red flags that may signal export control evasion, lawyers and industry officials said this week. As that pressure mounts, they said many financial institutions still struggle to understand how much and what type of due diligence is needed to catch customers that may be violating export controls.
A senior State Department official this week said an ongoing effort among the U.S., Australia and the U.K. to reduce defense trade restrictions will soon lead to an “unprecedented” level of technology sharing, adding that the three countries are open to adding more nations, including potentially Japan.
Beijing is looking to grow Renminbi-based financial networks to create an alternative to the dollar-dominated global financial system, which could help the country shield itself from some Western sanctions if it invades Taiwan, researchers and policy experts said this week. Although China isn’t yet ready to rely on those networks, that could change within several years, experts said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is looking to speed up its processing of advisory opinion requests, a government official said during the Bureau of Industry and Security's annual conference last week.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is working on a host of proposed or final regulations that could be published in the next few months, officials said last week, including revisions to its defense services controls and an exemption for certain defense trade with Australia and the U.K.