China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized a decision by the U.S. earlier this month to sanction two Chinese firms for helping to make drones for Russia (see 2410170011), saying the designations have “no basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council.” The ministry also said China doesn’t allow its businesses to sell drone parts for use by Russia’s military and has recently strengthened export inspections to stop those shipments.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s proposed reporting rule for AI developers should shift from a computer-based threshold to a performance-based threshold to provide a better measure of risk, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s Center for Data Innovation told BIS this month.
The Senate’s proposed Georgian People’s Act will be modified “if needed” to ensure those responsible for “fraud and manipulation” in the country's recent parliamentary elections “are held accountable,” Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said in a joint statement this week.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department this week to prevent American know-how and investment from supporting the development of China’s photonic semiconductor sector.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is starting to apply “data identification markings” to all documents attached to commodity jurisdiction and advisory opinion submissions, which will identify documents that are “SBU” (sensitive but unclassified) or as “PII” (personally identifiable information). DDTC said the change will “better manage the information being stored and transmitted within” the agency’s Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS). “This will not impact requests in progress,” DDTC said. “If you receive an email from ‘Auto Classification User’, this is a notice that a document you have submitted was updated. No action is required.”
Japan sanctioned Luckson Elan, a leader of Haiti’s Gran Grif gang, and Prophane Victor, a former member of Haiti's parliament, for actions that “threaten peace in Haiti,” according to an unofficial translation of an Oct. 24 notice. The move comes after both the U.S. and U.N. Security Council sanctioned both earlier this year (see 2409260002 and 2410010010).
The Treasury Department's new outbound investment rules will officially take effect Jan. 2, creating new prohibitions and notification requirements to limit certain U.S. business activities in China’s semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum sectors. The 297-page final rule, released in pre-publication form Oct. 28, adopts many of Treasury’s proposed regulations issued in June (see 2406210034) with a host of notable tweaks and clarifications, including a more detailed description for the rules’ AI investment threshold and insight into the agency’s due diligence expectations for U.S. companies.
Brian Assi, a Middle East-based salesman of a heavy machinery manufacturer, was convicted last week of violating sanctions against Iran after he tried to export U.S.-made drills to Iran without licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Florida resident Yuksel Senbol was sentenced on Oct. 24 to 15 months in prison for violating the Export Control Reform Act and Arms Export Control Act, among other things, DOJ announced. Senbol, who pleaded guilty in May (see 2405080060), "knowingly facilitated the illegal export" of export-controlled drawings of key U.S. military technology and helped her co-conspirators fraudulently procure contracts to supply the Defense Department with "critical military components," DOJ said. She also agreed to forfeit $275,430.90.
A Senate bill that would sanction Republic of Georgia officials for corruption, human rights abuses and anti-democratic efforts has gained additional support, said a spokesperson for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who introduced the bill in May.