Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said April 17 she’s concerned that a host of upcoming elections around the world could fuel harmful sentiment against international trade.
The U.S. and the EU continued to discuss export controls, investment screening and other economic statecraft tools during the sixth meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council last week, saying they have made progress harmonizing export licensing decisions and plan to soon launch a new investment screening initiative. The two sides also renewed a mechanism to pinpoint and prevent global semiconductor supply chains issues and announced a new forum to coordinate on critical minerals trade.
Banks are facing rising pressure from regulators to catch red flags that may signal export control evasion, lawyers and industry officials said this week. As that pressure mounts, they said many financial institutions still struggle to understand how much and what type of due diligence is needed to catch customers that may be violating export controls.
China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized the latest semiconductor export control rule released by the U.S. last week, saying it has “overextended the concept of national security, arbitrarily modified rules, and tightened control measures.” That the U.S. issued an export control update “less than half a year after the last time” has caused “huge uncertainty.”
A Bureau of Industry and Security rule released last week (see 2403290060) that updated and corrected portions of the agency’s October semiconductor export controls (see 2310170055) also added a new license exception and offered clarifications to export guidance issued by BIS over the last year. The changes take effect April 4, and comments are due by April 29.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to expand its validated end-user program, which it hopes will allow more U.S. exporters to sell products to credible foreign customers without having to first apply for a license, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.
Beijing this week urged the Netherlands to continue allowing its companies to service and repair semiconductor equipment in China, saying Dutch companies should fulfill their “contractual obligations” with their Chinese customers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has no immediate plans to try to require companies to monitor their sensitive chip-related exports through location tracking or other hardware, BIS officials said this week, suggesting that the technology needs to be studied more.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on March 29 released an interim final rule to update, correct and clarify its October 2023 chip controls that placed new restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. The 186-page rule takes effect April 4 and seeks public comments on the changes by April 29.
The head of the Bureau of Industry and Security this week called on companies to double down on their export compliance and due diligence efforts, saying the agency is reaching out to exporters to make sure they’re catching red flags and monitoring for possible export control evasion.