The Commerce Department should start preparing export controls for dual-use artificial intelligence models, which could prevent those models from being used to make biosecurity weapons or skirt U.S. export restrictions on advanced semiconductors, researchers told the agency in comments released this month. But technology companies and industry groups warned the U.S. against overbroad controls, which they said could hurt American AI innovation.
The Commerce Department announced new export restrictions April 26 that it says are intended to reduce the risk that firearms end up in the hands of criminals, terrorists or cartels.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a final rule April 25 creating a new license exception to authorize certain exports of medical devices to Russia, Belarus and “the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is “significantly reducing licensing requirements” for Australia and the U.K. “to foster defense trade and technological innovation” under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) Enhanced Trilateral Security Partnership, it said in an April 18 news release.
U.S. companies should expect more retaliation from China if the Bureau of Industry and Security adds more major Chinese technology firms to its Entity List this year, Paul Trulio, a China and technology policy expert, said during an event last week hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trulio and other panelists also said it’s unclear exactly how a possible second Trump administration may tweak U.S. export control policy toward Beijing, but they said it’s possible former President Donald Trump, if reelected, could significantly increase restrictions on Chinese firms through potential financial sanctions and may pressure allies to do the same.
China’s trade remedy bureau chief met with the EU April 10 to express Beijing’s “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the bloc’s recent launch of an investigation on Chinese wind turbine suppliers (see 2404100010). “This is a protectionist behavior that harms a fair competitive environment in the name of fair competition,” the official told the EU in Brussels, according to an unofficial translation of a readout released by China’s Ministry of Commerce. China said it “urges the EU to immediately stop and correct its wrong practices.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking for new candidates to serve on each of its six technical advisory committees, the agency said this week. The TAC members -- selected from industry, academia and government -- will help advise the Commerce Department on export controls and may serve terms of not more than four consecutive years. Applicants should send a resume and other required information to Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov by June 11.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is encouraging industry and foreign countries to do more to ensure American high-tech products don't end up in Russian weapon systems, a Commerce Department official said April 10.
The Bureau of Industry and Security remains months away from resolving a temporary pause in new firearm export licenses that was supposed to expire in January, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said this week.
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.