The Bureau of Industry and Security will add China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company and more than 60 companies to the Entity List for actions “deemed contrary” to U.S. national security. BIS said SMIC, China’s top chipmaker, has concerning ties to China’s government and risks transferring imported U.S. technology to the country’s military. Other companies will be added to the Entity List for human rights abuses, for supporting China’s militarization of the South China Sea, for diverting U.S. products to China’s military and for the theft of U.S. trade secrets. BIS did not immediately say when the restrictions will take effect.

Following reports that President-Elect Joe Biden will be nominating House Ways and Means Chief Trade Counsel Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative, Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer hailed the decision.“This is a fantastic pick from President-elect Biden. Katherine Tai has played an invaluable role leading the Ways and Means staff while working with members and outside groups on the renegotiated NAFTA and other critical trade issues," said Blumenauer. "She’s knowledgeable, patient, creative, and will be the first woman of color to hold this important job."

The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to add 47 entities to its Entity List for “acting contrary” to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. The additions include entities in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. BIS designated the entities for a range of illegal procurement and nuclear-related activities, including sending nuclear-related items and other products to Iran. BIS will also correct four existing entries under China.

The agency will impose a license requirement for exports to 39 of the 47 entities for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with a license review policy of presumption of denial. For the remaining entities, BIS will impose its “nuclear end-user and end-use based” license review policy. The changes take effect Sept. 22.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s June 24 lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, saying the company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.

The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to add 60 entities to the Entity List, including 24 entities for helping the Chinese military build artificial islands in the South China Sea. BIS will also designate entities in France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates for a range of activities, including illegal exports to Iran, submitting false information to BIS, contributing to Russian biological weapons programs and more.

BIS will also revise five existing entries under Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran and the UAE. BIS will impose a license requirement for exports to the companies for all items subject to the Export Administration regulations, with no license exceptions. The changes take effect Aug. 27.

The Bureau of Industry and Security released its long-awaited pre-rule for foundational technologies and asked industry to comment on the types of technologies BIS should target for potential controls. BIS is specifically looking for feedback on a definition for foundational technologies, criteria for identifying them, how the controls might impact their development and the potential benefits of end-use or end-user based controls as opposed to technology-based controls.

The agency said in the advance notice of proposed rulemaking it expects to use the public comments to impose new control levels on items currently controlled for anti-terrorism reasons or items controlled under the Export Administration Regulations and classified as EAR99. Comments on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking are due Oct. 26.

The Bureau of Industry and Security added 38 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List and refined a May amendment to its foreign direct product rule, further restricting Huawei’s access to U.S. technology. BIS said the direct product rule will now also apply to transactions where U.S. software or technology is “the basis” for a foreign-made item produced or purchased by Huawei, or when a Huawei entity is “a party to such a transaction.” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Huawei "has continuously tried to evade" the previous changes to the foreign direct product rule.

BIS also modified four existing Huawei entries on the Entity List and confirmed that the temporary general license for Huawei expired Aug. 13. The agency has not yet detailed the changes in a Federal Register notice and did not provide an effective date for the additions.

Canada released a list of products that could be subject to countermeasures in response to the re-imposition of U.S. tariffs on some Canadian aluminum exports. "Canada intends to impose surtaxes against imports of aluminum and aluminum-containing products from the U.S., representing a proportionate amount of Canadian aluminum products affected by the U.S. tariffs," it said.

The U.S. tariffs are due to come into force on Aug. 16. Canada is soliciting comments through Sept. 6, and says their tariffs will be in place by Sept. 16.

The Commerce Department plans to add 11 Chinese-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two of the entities conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.

Commerce said it is imposing a license requirement for exports to the entities for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The agency will review license applications case by case for certain Export Control Classification Numbers and for EAR items necessary to detect, identify and treat infectious diseases. BIS will impose a presumption of denial for “all other items” subject to the EAR.

The agency will also revise 37 existing Chinese entries to update their license review policy. BIS will impose a case-by-case review policy for all EAR items used to combat infectious diseases "in light of the current global pandemic."

President Trump said he signed an executive order that ends Hong Kong’s preferential trade treatment and increases export restrictions on sensitive technologies. Trump also said he signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which authorizes sanctions against Chinese authorities and foreign banks associated with passing Hong Kong’s so-called national security law.

Speaking during a press conference, Trump said “Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China. No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies.” The State Department and Commerce Department previously announced a ban on defense exports to Hong Kong and suspended license exceptions for shipments to the region.

The Commerce Department announced a new rule that it said will help U.S. companies participate in international standard-setting bodies where Huawei is a member. Under the rule, companies will no longer need an export license to disclose technology to Huawei if that disclosure is for the “purpose of standards development in a standards-development body,” Commerce said in a June 15 press release. In addition, companies may only disclose technology to Huawei if that technology would not have required an export license before Huawei’s placement on the agency’s Entity List last year.

Specifically, the rule authorizes the release of technology designated under Export Administration Regulations 99 “or controlled only for Anti-Terrorism reasons on the Commerce Control List,” Commerce said. The rule will not allow technology disclosures for commercial purposes, the agency said. Commerce did not provide the official text of the rule or an effective date, but said it sent the rule to the Federal Register June 12.

The Office of the U.S. Representative posted the final implementing regulations of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, covering the interpretation, application, and administration of rules of origin, textiles, and customs and trade facilitation.

The documents were released after the close of business on June 3. The USMCA will replace NAFTA on July 1.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will officially add 33 companies and government agencies to the Entity List on June 5 for their roles in proliferation activities and aiding human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province, BIS said in two Federal Register notices. The notices formalize the previously announced additions.

The first notice adds 24 Chinese, Hong Kong and United Kingdom entities to the Entity List and modifies three existing entries under the destination of China. The second notice adds nine Chinese entities to the Entity List and amends entries for three additional entries under the destination of China.

President Donald Trump said that the administration will begin the process of revoking Hong Kong's differential treatment from China, including its more lenient "export controls on dual-use technologies, with few exceptions."

He said Hong Kong would no longer be treated as a separate customs territory. He gave no details in the May 29 press conference about how long the process would take before these changes take effect.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 33 companies and governmental bodies to the Entity List for their roles in military and proliferation activities and human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province, BIS said May 22.

The two press releases do not mention an effective date, and the notices have yet to be filed for publication in the Federal Register.

Nine of the entities are being added for being “complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region,” BIS said.

Another 24 are being added “for engaging in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the U.S.,” and posing a “significant risk of supporting procurement of items for military end-use in China.”

The Commerce Department issued a notice that amends the direct product rule to so that it applies to certain foreign-made items designated with a new footnote in Commerce’s Entity List. It also applies that footnote to 93 entries on the Entity List for Huawei and its affiliates. The interim final rule takes effect May 15.

The Commerce Department announced increased restrictions on foreign-made chips exported to, and made by, Huawei and its affiliates, and said it does not expect to issue another temporary general license extension for the Chinese technology company after its latest 90-day renewal expires Aug. 13.

The agency is amending the direct product rule to apply restrictions to foreign-produced semiconductor designs and items, such as chipsets, that are direct products of controlled U.S. software and technology, and will require a license when the exporter has “knowledge” that the item’s destination is Huawei.

To mitigate impact on the industry, Commerce said the rule change will not impact foreign-produced items as long as they are reexported, exported from abroad or transferred within 120 days from the rule’s effective date. The rule is expected to be issued as an interim final rule Friday afternoon, a senior Commerce official told reporters on a conference call.

The Federal Maritime Commission will adopt a final rule to give industry guidance on how it assesses the “reasonableness” of detention and demurrage charges, the agency said. The rule, which was proposed in September and has garnered new attention due to charges caused by COVID-19-related shipping delays, is expected to give industry clarity on how FMC will consider whether detention and demurrage policies incentivize the movement of cargo or whether they are unjustified. The rule will become effective upon its publication in the Federal Register.

Two new provisions are included in the final rule. "The first clarifies that the guidance in the rule is applicable in the context of government inspections," the FMC said. "The second clarifies that the rule does not preclude the Commission from considering additional factors, arguments, and evidence outside those specifically listed."

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress April 24 that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement will enter into force on July 1, 2020. Following that notification to Congress, the U.S. certified to Mexico and Canada that it's ready for the NAFTA replacement to take effect.

“The crisis and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates that now, more than ever, the United States should strive to increase manufacturing capacity and investment in North America. The USMCA’s entry into force is a landmark achievement in that effort," Lighthizer said in a press release.

CBP posted interim implementation instructions for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to provide "guidance with respect to preferential tariff claims under the USMCA," it said. The document covers many of the USMCA provisions, including making preference claims, rules of origin for automotive goods and country of origin marking rules. "The procedures outlined in this memorandum are in place pending the issuance of the applicable regulations," CBP said.

The U.S. will restrict exports of certain personal protective equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a notice. The restrictions, which took effect April 7 and will last for 120 days after the notice's publication in the Federal Register (scheduled for April 10), apply to certain respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves, FEMA said. An exemption is available in specific cases, including for some export agreements in effect since at least the beginning of 2020, the agency said.

The deadline for customs payments due to the Canada Border Services Agency will be extended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the agency said in bulletin. "The timeframe for all payments due to the Agency (duties and taxes on regular imports, re-assessments, penalties, etc) is extended to June 30, 2020," it said. "This also includes charges on the statement of account of March due on April 1. The CBSA will change the due date automatically, there is no need for companies to apply for the extension."

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The Bureau of Industry and Security added 24 entities to its Entity List and revised five existing entries, the agency said in a notice. The new entries include companies in China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, the notice said, and revised entries for entities in France, Iran, Lebanon, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The new entries include China-based Wuhan IRCEN Technology, as well as several other companies in Iran and Pakistan that BIS said threaten U.S. national security. The changes take effect March 16, but all shipments now requiring a license as a result of this rule that were on dock for loading or aboard a carrier to a port as of that date may proceed to their destinations under the previous eligibility, BIS said.

Canada's House of Commons approved the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement -- called CUSMA in Canada -- by unanimous consent March 13, before adjourning until April 20th due to coronavirus. The Canadian Senate passed it less than an hour later. The last step of royal assent is a formality. Now, all three countries must continue to work on uniform regulations so that they can certify the treaty is ready to enter into force. Once that certification is issued, NAFTA will be replaced on the first day of the third month after the announcement.

The Commerce Department renewed the temporary general license for Huawei and 114 of its non-U.S. affiliates until April 1, Commerce said in a notice. The 45-day extension is the third extension granted to Commerce since it was placed on the Entity List in May. The previous extension was set to expire on Feb. 16. License applications will continue to be reviewed under a presumption of denial. The notice is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register on Feb. 18.

China’s Ministry of Finance said it will halve retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. imports beginning Feb. 14, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. Tariffs on some U.S. goods will fall from 10 percent to 5 percent, China said, while others will drop from 5 percent to 2.5 percent. The tariffs stem from China’s Sept. 1 tranche of retaliatory tariffs. China released additional details about the cuts in guidance from the State Council Tariff Commission.

Airbus agreed to pay more than $3.9 billion in combined penalties for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Justice Department said. The bribery charges, levied by U.S., French and United Kingdom authorities, stem from Airbus’ scheme to bribe non-governmental airline executives and government officials, including officials in China, to retain aircraft contracts.

Among the ITAR violations were "the failure to maintain records involving ITAR-controlled transactions; and the unauthorized re-export and retransfer of defense articles," according to a State Department news release. A proposed charging letter further details the allegations.

The Senate passed the U.S-Canada-Mexico Agreement, the replacement for NAFTA, with an 89-10 vote. Now the implementing bill heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed. The Canadian parliament must also still ratify the agreement.

Most of the Democrats who voted no said they did so because the trade deal doesn't address climate change, though Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who opposed the original NAFTA, voted against the pact because he felt it didn't do enough to prevent outsourcing to Mexico. Only one Republican voted no, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Jan. 14 that the Senate will hold a ratification vote on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement this week.

"We are, it looks like, going to be able to process the USMCA here in the Senate this week,” he said at a press conference at the Capitol. "That'll be good news for the Senate, and for the country, and something I think we have broad bipartisan agreement on."

The fast-track procedures limit debate to 20 hours, but not all that time is required before a vote.