The House approved several export control-related bills late Sept. 9, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely (see 2409040046).
U.S. computing chip manufacturers need to do more to stem the flow of their export-controlled products to Russia’s defense industrial base, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Sept. 10.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill Sept. 9 that would end all U.S. petroleum cooperation and petroleum-related trade with Venezuela until that country's ruler, Nicolas Maduro, concedes he lost Venezuela's recent presidential election.
The House passed a bill Sept. 9 that would cut off top Chinese leaders and their family members from the U.S. financial system if China takes military action against Taiwan.
The Netherlands last week said it expanded its export controls on advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools, imposing new license requirements on certain deep ultraviolet lithography equipment that can be used to make high-end chips. The new control, effective Sept. 7, is meant to restrict equipment that can be used to make chips with “advanced military applications,” the Dutch government said, which “has implications for the Netherlands’ security interests.”
The Biden administration on Sept. 6 released an updated version (see 2107160030) of a business advisory that highlights the sanctions and export controls risks for companies doing business in Hong Kong, including the “reputational, regulatory, financial, and, in certain instances, legal” consequences they could face. The 16-page advisory covers risks associated with trade secrets theft, the punishments they could face for violating Hong Kong’s national security law and the challenges posed by “conflicting jurisdictional requirements and liability in connection with sanctions compliance efforts,” the State Department said. “Failure to adhere to U.S. sanctions can result in civil and criminal penalties under U.S. law.”
DOJ on Sept. 5 unsealed two indictments against dual Russian-U.S. citizens Dimitri Simes and Anastasia Simes, residents of Huntly, Virginia, for their role in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions.
A new exemption for certain defense trade between the U.S., Australia and the U.K. under the AUKUS partnership is now active in the Automated Export System, CBP said in a Sept. 6 CSMS message. The State Department published the exemption in a final rule, effective Sept. 1, that it said will remove export control barriers for a range of items that had previously faced strict license requirements under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
The Census Bureau is updating the Automated Export System with Export Control Classification Numbers and a license code to reflect new export controls over advanced technologies announced last week by the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 2409050028). The update adds multiple new ECCNs to the ECCN reference table in AES, Census said in a Sept. 6 email to industry, and introduces new License Code C70 for License Exception Implemented Export Control (IEC), which authorizes certain technology exports to other countries that have put in place similar restrictions.
The EU Court of Justice on Sept. 5 said that a notary doesn't violate sanctions on Russia by authenticating the sale of a property owned by a non-sanctioned Russian company. The court said that authentication services don't amount to the provision of "legal advisory services," which are barred under EU sanctions if provided to "legal persons established in Russia."