Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Members of the European Parliament are pushing for tighter enforcement of export controls surrounding spyware products, saying several countries -- including Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria -- are routinely flouting the bloc’s export restrictions. They also criticized the European Commission for not doing enough to hold member states accountable for potentially violating the EU’s dual-use export controls (see 2105100013).
Although the U.S. continues to impose new sanctions and export controls against Russia, the Commerce Department’s $300 million penalty assigned to Seagate Technologies last month signals that the U.S. is increasingly prioritizing enforcement, particularly against China, law firms said this month. They also said the fine shows that Commerce is looking to strictly enforce its foreign direct product rule restrictions, even for violations of the rule that may not be obvious.
U.S. export controls and investment restrictions can successfully maintain America’s lead over China in sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, said Michele Flournoy, a former Defense Department official. But she also warned against policies that could push the U.S. toward decoupling from Beijing, saying the government needs to do a better job working with industry to craft the restrictions.
A bill introduced in the Senate last week could create new export authorizations -- including a new open general license for certain defense exports and a new license exception for dual-use goods -- to expedite shipments to Australia, Canada and the U.K. The legislation, introduced by Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., also would allow the State Department to hire more export license review officers, create a “fast-track” foreign military sales process, reduce barriers to information sharing within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. partnership and more.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released guidance to help exporters comply with a proposal that could introduce new filing requirements for certain U.S. Munitions List items. The guidance -- which deals with a proposed rule by the Census Bureau that could require exporters to submit a new data element in the Automated Export System when shipping USML Category XXI items (see 2305020007) -- features a range of frequently asked questions, including about how exporters can determine whether their items are controlled under Category XXI, when exporters should use the data element and more.
Over half of charge complaints submitted to the Federal Maritime Commission have been resolved by the parties agreeing to a settlement, FMC Managing Director Lucille Marvin said during a May 3 FMC meeting. More than half of what comes in gets settled "almost right away," Marvin said. Once "regulated entities see that we're involved, they come back to the table and issue refunds or waivers."
The Treasury Department is proposing to add eight military bases that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., including an Air Force base in North Dakota that was the subject of a controversial CFIUS decision last year. The proposed rule, released May 4 by Treasury’s Office of Investment Security, also would amend the definition for “military installation” to include six additional U.S. states. Comments on the changes are due June 5.
The Senate will work over the next several months to build a bill Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sees as a sequel to its China package -- also known as the Chips Act -- that could expand China-related export controls and investment restrictions.
A potential Chinese military invasion of Taiwan could lead to an unprecedented level of new sanctions and export controls against Beijing, including U.S. financial sanctions against major Chinese companies and export prohibitions on anything related to the country’s military, trade lawyer David Wolber said. Banks in particular are concerned about the possibility of sweeping financial restrictions, Chloe Cina of Deutsche Bank said, adding that some are beginning to prepare for a worst-case sanctions scenario.