The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order Dec. 13 against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three individuals, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.
A revision to U.S. export regulations included in the fiscal year 2023 defense spending bill could lead to new end-use screening obligations for U.S. people and companies operating abroad, Akin Gump said in a Jan. 5 client alert. Although it remains unclear how and when the Bureau of Industry and Security will implement the change, the law firm said it could lead to new restrictions on activities that support foreign military, security or intelligence services even if the activity doesn’t involve technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2022 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including one new rule that will finalize new chip export controls against China and others that could revise chemical weapons reporting requirements, the Export Administration Regulations and the Entity List.
Taiwan this week expanded its export controls against Russia and Belarus to cover a range of new items that may be used for Russia’s war in Ukraine, including “high-tech” military items. The island added 52 new items to the export control list, saying they are “primarily related” to “nuclear energy substances,” chemicals, machine tools and other “miscellaneous goods and materials.” The changes took effect Jan. 4.
New Manufacturing USA Institutes can help the semiconductor industry reduce costs and accelerate innovation, particularly in emerging technology areas that could soon be subject to export controls, chip companies and industry representatives said in comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. They also said the Commerce Department should bar foreign entities from working with Manufacturing USA Institutes if they are subject to U.S. export restrictions or have operations in certain countries, including China.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in a Dec. 22 opinion denied three Maryland men's post-trial motions seeking dismissal of their convictions, among other things, pertaining to their efforts to illegally export arms and ammunition to Nigeria. The court said Wilson Tita of Owings Mills, Eric Nji of Fort Washington and Wilson Fonguh of Bowie failed to prove that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen rendered unconstitutional the defendants' conviction on a charge of transporting a firearm with an obliterated serial number (U.S. v. Wilson Nuyila Tita).
A bill that could move U.S. export control authority from the Commerce Department to the Defense Department reflects a lack of understanding of the export control licensing process and raises a number of questions about the future of U.S. export control regulations, Braumiller Consulting Group said in a recent post. Congress may want to devote more effort to holding Commerce and the Bureau of Industry and Security “accountable” under the Export Control Reform Act “rather than attempting to fix something that is working fine,” said the post, written by Craig McClure, a senior trade adviser with the firm.
Several U.S. technology companies recently disclosed their ongoing efforts to comply with new export restrictions against China (see 2210070049), with some determining the regulations will have little effect and others saying the uncertainty is leading to business interruptions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week announced new, stricter license requirements for exports to the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, by designating it as a Russian military end-user, BIS said in a final rule effective Dec. 21. The new designation imposes a license review policy of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, except for certain food and medicine, which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
China officially requested dispute consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization Dec. 15 over American export controls on certain semiconductors, the WTO announced. China, which announced the move earlier in the week (see 2212120061), said the restrictions violate Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.