Export control reform has allowed Bureau of Industry and Security officials to intensify enforcement efforts, including through increased end-use checks, reviewing 61 percent more voluntary self-disclosures in 2015, and greater examination of the use of the BIS “Strategic Trade Authorization” (STA) license exception, BIS officials said Nov. 1 during their agency’s Update 2016 Conference on Export Controls and Policy. The transfer of former U.S. Munitions List (USML) items to the Commerce Control List (CCL) “600 Series” is at least partly responsible for the uptick in 2015 disclosures over the preceding five-year average, BIS Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Mills said during the conference. “If you’re a corporate counsel or an outside counsel, you should know that you’re going to see a lot more activity in this area,” BIS Office of Export Enforcement Director Douglas Hassebrock said during the conference. BIS is issuing more warning letters in response to disclosures, Hassebrock said. “We’re seeing more and more items that are foot fouls,” probably as a result export control reform-related transfers from the USML to the CCL, he said.
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
On Nov. 2 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
Several countries have lax counterfeit drug seizure regimes, strenuous import licensing processes, and big gaps between the upper limit on tariffs that can’t be exceeded under World Trade Organization rules and the most-favored nation (MFN) tariff rate charged at the border, commenters told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as part of its preparation for the 2017 National Trade Estimate report. Such a gap between MFN tariffs and the upper bounds allowed gives governments too much leeway in changing tariff rates with little warning or notice, bringing uncertainty for foreign traders, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) said in its comments (here). Nations with large tariff gaps include Indonesia, India, Thailand, Nigeria, Turkey and Kenya, NAM said.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the Nov. 1 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission began five-year sunset reviews of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on multilayered wood flooring from China (A-570-970/C-570-971), and the antidumping duty orders on gray portland cement and cement clinker from Japan (A-588-815), helical spring lock washers from China (A-870-822) and Taiwan (A-583-820), welded ASTM A-312 stainless steel pipe from South Korea (A-580-810) and Taiwan (A-583-815), and solid urea from Russia (A-821-801) and Ukraine (A-823-801).
On Oct. 27 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 17-23:
A Hillary Clinton presidency wouldn’t bring discernible changes to U.S. export controls and sanctions policy, but impacts from a Trump administration are less clear, according to an analysis posted on Wiley Rein's American Trade and Manufacturing Blog (here). “In any event, much depends upon international developments which, as we saw in connection with Ukraine, can change the international sanctions situation quite quickly,” said Scott Nance, a lawyer at the firm. Clinton would likely narrowly observe the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, after she helped negotiate its pre-approval precursor, the Joint Plan of Action, Nance said.
On Oct. 24 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Oct. 19 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports: