The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 15 suspended the export privileges of six people after they were convicted of export-related offenses, including illegal shipments involving guns to Mexico, dual-use parts to Russia, items to Chinese companies on the Entity List, and more. The suspensions took effect from the date of their convictions.
The Office of the Federal Register published a correction this week to a Commerce Control List that appeared in the most recent annual revision of the Code of Federal Regulations. It fixes an error in the language that describes certain "materials" controlled in the CCL, including metals and alloys.
Advanced technology and AI companies largely supported the Commerce Department’s new effort to create a program aimed at increasing U.S. exports of AI technologies and services, with some saying companies should commit to "rigorous" export compliance conditions before being allowed to participate. One company said the U.S. should require businesses to automate their compliance for exports involving certain dual-use AI models, saying manual compliance presents too many “failure points.”
The U.S. has given Syria a new 180-day sanctions waiver under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 to help the war-torn country continue its rebuilding effort, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Nov. 10.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 29 entities to the Entity List, including three addresses, for either helping to illegally supply U.S.-origin items to Iran or for their ties to Iranian procurement networks, BIS said in a final rule released and effective Oct. 8. BIS said the entities supplied or diverted aircraft parts, drone components, electronic items and other products to Iran, including to Iranian companies already on the Entity List or the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week fined British Virgin Islands-based company Hallewell Ventures and its owner, Albert Avdolyan, $374,474 for violating sanctions against Russia. BIS said Hallewell illegally reexported a Bombardier Global 7500 jet from the Maldives to Russia without a license.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is rolling back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports, the agency said in a final rule effective Sept. 30. BIS said it decided that the rule should be “rescinded in its entirety” after hearing from U.S. firearms manufacturers that the controls “would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars per year in lost sales.”
The Commerce Department’s spring 2025 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security features more than 20 new rulemakings that could introduce new or update existing export controls, including restrictions over advanced AI chips, emerging technologies, Russia-related controls and other revisions to the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will ease export controls on Syria Sept. 2 by creating a new license exception for the country, making it eligible for a broader set of existing exceptions and revising current BIS license review policies for Syria to “be more favorable.”
The State Department is finalizing changes from a January rule that will add and remove items on the U.S. Munitions List and clarify the control scope of others. It said some new items should be subject to export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, while others “no longer warrant inclusion” or will soon be moved to the Commerce Department’s Commerce Control List. The agency will also create a new license exemption for underwater drones and tweak other portions of the January rule, but it declined to make multiple changes requested by exporters.