DOJ last week released the fourth and final part in a series of reports on criminal gun trafficking, part of an effort by the Biden administration to collect and analyze more data to prevent the illegal movement of firearms. The report, published by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said there was a 298% increase in the total number of regulated firearms and weapons exported annually from 2000 to 2022, followed by a 21% decrease in those same shipments between 2022 and 2023. It added that 4,317 “recovered crime guns” were traced to legal exports in 2023, more than in any year since 2020. It also said two of the most frequently exported firearms have been pistols and machine guns.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department Jan. 9 to update its regulations to require U.S. biopharmaceutical entities to obtain an export license before working with a Chinese military hospital for clinical trials.
A new Bureau of Industry and Security rule released Jan. 13 will place new, worldwide export controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence model weights, capping the number of AI chips that can be sent to most countries while introducing an exception for a group of allies that the Biden administration said already have strong AI technology protection rules. The 168-page interim final rule also creates new license exceptions for certain supply chain activities and low-volume shipments of powerful chips -- except for China, Russia and other U.S.-embargoed countries -- and updates the agency’s validated end-user program (VEU) to lift certain licensing requirements for certain data centers that meet stringent new security conditions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for a new interim final rule that’s expected to place new export controls on advanced AI-related chips. The rule, “Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion,” was sent for interagency review Dec. 9 and the review was completed Jan. 7. The upcoming restrictions have received criticism from at least one major technology company and two industry groups for being overbroad (see 2501060015 and 2501080034).
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming export controls on advanced AI-related semiconductors will introduce expansive compliance hurdles and sales limitations that will hurt American firms and could push U.S. allies to work closer with China, a major technology think tank and a leading semiconductor industry group said this week.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China said Jan. 6 that they support the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to place new export controls on advanced AI-related chips and believe the agency's upcoming interim final rule should include several specific measures to help keep sensitive technology out of China’s hands.
CBP notified export filers this week that it has officially updated an appendix in the Automated Export System with two new fatal error codes involving items classified under U.S. Munitions List Category XXI. The Census Bureau announced the changes last week (see 2412310011), saying AES will reject filings of shipments controlled under Category XXI if they don’t include a valid State Department commodity jurisdiction determination number.
An upcoming Bureau of Industry and Security rule that’s expected to place new export controls on advanced AI-related chips will “go down as one of the most destructive to ever hit the U.S. technology industry,” major cloud services provider Oracle said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 13 companies and research institutes to the Entity List for illegally shipping export controlled items to other Entity Listed firms, supporting China’s military modernization efforts or aiding Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, the agency said in a final rule released last week and effective Jan. 6
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 31 suspended the export privileges of four people after they were convicted of export-related offenses, including illegal shipments involving guns, ammunition and Iranian oil. The suspensions took effect from the date of their convictions.