The U.S. is still “considering” a new outbound investment screening regime, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week, stressing that any restrictions would be “narrowly scoped and targeted to clear objectives.”
House lawmakers are working on legislation they say could lift some of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ burdensome technology sharing restrictions, including controls limiting trade with the U.S.’ closest allies. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Tex., said the bill could create an ITAR exemption for technology transfers under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership, among other changes.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week proposed new export controls on automated peptide synthesizers that may be used to produce biological weapons (see 2304170010). Although several U.S. companies and a Chinese academy last year warned BIS against imposing new license requirements, the agency said the synthesizers qualify as emerging or foundational technologies and may need to be restricted.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on April 19 fined Seagate Technology $300 million for violating U.S. export controls against Huawei in what it said is the “largest standalone administrative penalty in BIS history.” The agency said the California-based company and its branch in Singapore sold more than 7 million export-controlled hard disk drives to Huawei in violation of the BIS foreign direct product rule.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a new set of policy "clarifications" this week that it hopes will increase the number of voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) it receives for serious export violations. One clarification says the agency could increase penalties on companies that fail to disclose a “significant” potential violation, while another clarification could reward companies that tip off BIS about their competitors’ wrongdoings.
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.
DOJ this week announced a $365,000 settlement with General Motors over claims that the car maker -- in an attempt to comply with U.S. export control laws -- discriminated against non-U.S. citizens in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The agency also released a fact sheet to help employers avoid citizenship status discrimination when seeking to comply with export control laws.
The U.S. this week warned ship owners and service providers of new “deceptive practices” being used by Russia to evade the oil price cap, particularly for oil exported through the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and ports on the eastern coast of Russia. Shippers, traders and others should watch for several red flags to avoid helping Russia evade the cap, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an April 17 alert.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should reform its Entity List process and its licensing procedures to more effectively prevent China from acquiring sensitive U.S. technologies, said Cordell Hull, former acting BIS undersecretary. Hull also suggested that BIS increase its penalties for export violations, and said he isn’t convinced creating a new multilateral export control regime is the best way to counter China.
Public U.S. companies should update their China-related risk disclosures to factor in a range of potential trade restrictions on the horizon, including possible U.S. sanctions against Beijing for aiding Russia and new outbound investment restrictions, said Carl Valenstein, a trade lawyer with Morgan Lewis.