Companies could see a significant uptick in compliance responsibilities if the Bureau of Industry and Security follows through with a possible 50% rule for parties on the Entity List, although it’s unclear when exactly such a rule could take effect, former BIS officials said this week.
Chinese surveillance technology company Hikvision must close its businesses in Canada and stop all operations in the country after a foreign investment review by Canadian authorities.
President Donald Trump on June 30 signed an executive order to remove certain financial sanctions against Syria and authorize the "relaxation" of export controls against the country, part of broader effort to support Syria's "path to stability and peace," the White House said.
U.S. and Chinese officials said the two countries are still on pace for Beijing to ease its restrictions over rare earths and for Washington to lift its countermeasures, including export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security could streamline and strengthen its export license review process by improving its information sharing with other agencies involved in the process, especially the Defense, Energy and State departments, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
The U.S. and law firm Husch Blackwell again swapped briefs June 13 in the firm’s Freedom of Information Act dispute. Husch Blackwell said the government, which provided a list of more than 100 disclosed and undisclosed documents related to the firm’s FOIA request regarding an Entity List listing when it filed for summary judgment (see 2505300055), still wasn’t making clear which documents were actually responsive to the request (Husch Blackwell v. Department of Commerce, D.D.C. # 1:24-02733).
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has been removed from the Automated Export System's Trade Interface Requirements for export filings, according to a June 25 CBP cargo systems message. The bureau has "inactivated its Partner Government Agency (PGA) Export Message Set" as part of a "deregulatory action," CBP said. "References for TTB have been removed from Appendices Q and X of the Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirement (AESTIR). Previously, the submission of TTB PGA export message set had been voluntary."
An Israeli telecommunications and cybersecurity technology company told the Bureau of Industry and Security that it may have violated export controls against Russia and Belarus.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week officially released its enforcement order, charging letter and settlement agreement involving Unicat Catalyst Technologies, the Texas-based industrial equipment supplier that recently was assessed millions of dollars in combined penalties by BIS, DOJ and the Office of Foreign Assets Control for allegedly violating export control and sanctions laws (see 2506170047).
The Federal Maritime Commission is reorganizing some of its functions by "revising certain delegations of authority from the Commission, updating descriptions of organization components, and making minor related technical amendments," it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled to take effect June 20.