The State Department sent a rule for interagency review that would finalize its April proposal to exempt Australia and the U.K. from certain International Traffic in Arms Regulations licensing requirements as part of the AUKUS partnership (see 2404300050). The interim final rule was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs July 19. At least one industry group criticized the proposed rule for not removing enough barriers to defense trade among the three countries (see 2406030056).

The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for a proposed rule that could lead to changes to the Export Administration Regulations to “control U.S. persons support of security end users and end uses.” The rule also “proposes restrictions on exports, re-exports, and transfers (in-country) to these end users and end uses,” BIS said. The agency completed its interagency review July 12.

Chinese and South Korean officials last week held their first meeting of a new export control dialogue forum in Beijing, where they “exchanged in-depth views on relevant export control issues,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a news release, according to an unofficial translation. The two sides also agreed to continue “close communication, create good conditions for the normal development of bilateral trade, and work together” to maintain the “smooth flow” of supply chains. The meeting was held about two weeks after the U.S. and South Korea discussed export controls as part of the second meeting of the U.S.-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue Ministerial (see 2406280026).

U.S. chipmaker Nvidia is investigating reports that “unauthorized parties claim to have small numbers of restricted products for sale,” a company spokesperson said in a statement late July 9. Nvidia works with its customers and the U.S. government “to ensure that all sales comply with U.S. export control rules,” the spokesperson said. The statement came after Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he’s concerned advanced computing chips made by Nvidia and other companies are ending up in China despite export restrictions that are supposed to prevent those shipments (see 2407090030).

Italy on July 1 published a national export control list for goods that aren’t yet listed by the EU’s dual-use export control regulation but that the country is requiring to have a license for export, Italian trade consultant ZPC said in a client alert, according to an unofficial translation. The announcement follows similar moves by Spain, France and the Netherlands, ZPC said, adding that the lists are a way for European countries to coordinate on export restrictions that aren’t yet agreed to by all member states or at multilateral export control forums, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement. The European Commission began publishing a compilation of member states' national export control lists last year (see 2310270019).

Although Huawei has been able to overcome strict U.S. export controls to design advanced, high-performing chips in recent years (see 2403070059, 2309190052 and 2309120005), a report this month from Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology suggests that Huawei’s chip performance increase is “smaller than advertised” and the company still faces significant production limits.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) Ahn Duk-geun convened last week for the second meeting of the U.S.-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue Ministerial, where the two leaders discussed dual-use export controls, cooperation on semiconductor production and various supply chain resilience issues. The two leaders acknowledged the need to “protect our critical and emerging technologies from countries that may misuse them to undermine peace and security,” and agreed to continue “existing cooperation under the Dual-Use Export Controls working group to address national security threats while minimizing supply chain disruption.” The meeting was held one day after leaders from the U.S., South Korea and Japan met to discuss various trade issues, including export controls (see 2406270011).

Senior trade officials from the U.S., Japan and South Korea, during a meeting this week, discussed the importance of using export controls to stop foreign adversaries from acquiring their countries’ sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, clean energy technology and artificial intelligence. A readout of the meeting -- held with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito Ken, and Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun -- said the countries want to “deepen our coordination of export controls on advanced technologies” and take other actions to improve the security of their supply chains.

Russia has been able to sustain its war effort against Ukraine because of its ability to evade Western export controls on key military parts and semiconductors, said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said Russia is importing large amounts of controlled items from China and continuing to indirectly buy from Eastern European nations like Turkey through transshipment tactics and shell companies.

The State Department sent an interim final rule for interagency review that would make “targeted revisions” to items on the U.S. Munitions List. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs June 21, would revise and exclude USML entries that no longer warrant inclusion and add entries for critical and emerging technologies that warrant more strict export licensing requirements. The rule “also seeks to limit the items categorized” in USML Category XXI (Articles, Technical Data, and Defense Services Not Otherwise Enumerated) by “updating the appropriate USML paragraph,” the agency said.