The top Democrats on the oversight committees for the Bureau of Industry and Security are asking the agency for information about the Trump administration's plan to approve Nvidia H200 chip exports to China, including license applications, supporting documents and more.

A bipartisan group of House members led by Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, introduced a compromise Russia sanctions bill Dec. 18 that they hammered out through a flurry of year-end negotiations.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., led six other House Republicans in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would increase congressional oversight of exports of advanced AI chips to China and other “countries of concern.”

Recently introduced bills that could codify aspects of the Bureau of Industry and Security's suspended 50% rule show that lawmakers may be moving toward giving BIS more Entity List authority, said Ashley Roberts, a trade and national security lawyer with Hogan Lovells.

The U.S. needs to significantly improve its enforcement of Russia sanctions, especially against the country’s shadow fleet and oil industry, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and other speakers at a Brookings Institution event this week.

Nearly 21,000 companies could be affected by new export license requirements if the Bureau of Industry and Security reinstates its 50% rule, also known as the Affiliates Rule, financial services company Moody's said this week.

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 clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

A U.S. cryptocurrency trading software company this week agreed to pay more than $3 million to resolve allegations that it helped customers in Iran illegally access digital asset exchanges by suggesting they use virtual private networks to hide their location, violating U.S. sanctions.

A group of seven Democratic senators led by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the Commerce Department Dec. 12 for more information about President Donald Trump’s decision to allow Nvidia to sell advanced H200 AI chips to China (see 2512080059), including how the agency will ensure that “restricted end users,” such as entities linked to China’s military, don't get to use the semiconductors.

The Commerce Department should use its upcoming AI exports program as an opportunity to address export licensing delays within the Bureau of Industry and Security, technology companies and trade groups told the agency in public comments this month.