The U.S. needs to pour more resources into research and innovation of emerging technologies to boost commercialization and outpace Chinese technology development, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said. Blackburn advocated for a methodical decoupling from China, saying the U.S. needs to reshore manufacturing of critical technologies to help U.S. industries be more competitive in foreign markets.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on June 30 formally issued a notice with details (see 2007130018) of its June decision to suspend Hong Kong export licenses (see 2006300050 and 2006290063), outlining which licenses are impacted and reiterating the agency’s savings clauses for affected exports. BIS also said it is reviewing the Export Administration Regulations along with other agencies to “assess whether additional amendments are warranted.”
A Lebanese national was sentenced to 42 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export U.S. drone parts and technology to Hezbollah, the Justice Department said July 20. Usama Darwich Hamade violated the international Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Export Administration Regulations, the Arms Export Controls Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations when he tried to illegally export a range of U.S.-origin items, including “inertial measurement units,” digital compasses, a jet engine, piston engines and recording binoculars. During an investigation, the Justice Department said the U.S. discovered Hezbollah was the “ultimate beneficiary” of the exports.
The Commerce Department will add 11 China-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, a notice released July 20 said. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.
The Commerce Department plans to add 11 Chinese-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two of the entities conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering imposing new license requirements on facial recognition software and surveillance-related items that may be used for crowd control reasons or to violate human rights. BIS said in a notice it is reviewing changes to the Commerce Control List and is seeking industry feedback about CCL items that are restricted for crime control and detection reasons. Comments are due Sept. 15.
President Donald Trump’s executive order ending preferential treatment for Hong Kong details a range of sanctions authorities and export bans but includes a carve-out for certain defense exports authorized before the order was issued. The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls issued a July 15 guidance to clarify the new restrictions and answer industry questions.
The Commerce Department’s long-awaited proposed regulations on routed export transactions may not be issued until next year, a Census Bureau official said. Both Census and the Bureau of Industry and Security have been working closely on the rule but have struggled to pinpoint a release date. “I thought it would happen this year, but I'm going to go with probably 2021,” Kiesha Downs, chief of Census’ Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, said during a July 15 webinar hosted by Census. “It's just a matter of ironing out a couple more things.”
The Commerce Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of a rule to control “software” for the operation of “automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” capable of designing and building “functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.” BIS said the software can be used in the production of pathogens and toxins, with the potential for those to make their way into biological weapons if export controls on the software are lacking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, part of BIS’ effort to control emerging and foundational technologies (see 2005190052), will request industry comments about how the controls might affect “legitimate commercial or scientific applications.” BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule this month.
The Bureau of Industry and Security clarified the agency’s suspension of license exceptions for exports to Hong Kong, saying it will no longer allow exceptions for items subject to the Export Administration Regulations “that provide differential treatment than those available” to China. In a guidance issued after its June 29 suspension announcement (see 2006290063), BIS said U.S. exporters cannot use license exceptions for any shipments to Hong Kong “except for transactions that would otherwise be eligible for a license exception” for mainland China.