The U.S. announced a host of new sanctions against Russia’s energy sector last week, targeting major Russian oil producers, oil service providers and insurance companies, as well as vessels and traders moving Russian oil as part of the country’s shadow fleet. The Office of Foreign Assets Control also issued two new determinations that authorize sanctions against any person or entity with ties to Russia’s energy sector and that block the provision of U.S. petroleum services to parties in Russia, and it announced it will soon be ending a general license that had authorized certain Russia-related energy payments.
The Biden administration’s upcoming AI chip-related export controls likely will upset key U.S. allies, especially the EU, by reinforcing the notion that the U.S. relies too heavily on extraterritorial controls and is “hellbent” on maintaining American technology leadership, the Center for European Policy Analysis said this week.
ASML, the major Dutch semiconductor tooling firm, is being accused of misleading investors about how its projected China sales and revenues were impacted by recently imposed export controls.
The State Department’s recently published fall 2024 regulatory agenda previews a range of export control rules the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is hoping to issue this year, including one that would finalize an updated definition for defense services and others that would make various changes to the U.S. Munitions List.
CBP issued a proposed rule this week that could mandate the submission of more detailed electronic export manifest (EEM) data for cargo leaving the U.S. by rail, identify which parties should be submitting that electronic information, and set timelines for how soon that information would need to be submitted before the cargo leaves the country.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming export controls on advanced AI-related semiconductors will introduce expansive compliance hurdles and sales limitations that will hurt American firms and could push U.S. allies to work closer with China, a major technology think tank and a leading semiconductor industry group said this week.
The U.K. government is now recommending -- but not mandating -- that companies insert “no-Russia” clauses in their contracts, saying those clauses could help shield exporters and sellers against sanctions risks. It also published guidance about the specific steps companies can take to carry out export due diligence, which goods and countries face a higher risk of Russia-related sanctions-evasion, red flags to monitor, and more.
An upcoming Bureau of Industry and Security rule that’s expected to place new export controls on advanced AI-related chips will “go down as one of the most destructive to ever hit the U.S. technology industry,” major cloud services provider Oracle said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 13 companies and research institutes to the Entity List for illegally shipping export controlled items to other Entity Listed firms, supporting China’s military modernization efforts or aiding Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, the agency said in a final rule released last week and effective Jan. 6
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s record-setting enforcement pace over the last several years has raised the agency’s profile and convinced more businesses to invest in compliance, said Matthew Axelrod, the top BIS export enforcement official. But Axelrod said he thinks companies can do more.