Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Canada is considering new measures to strengthen its export controls, tariffs and other trade-related enforcement powers as it analyzes whether it has tools powerful enough to protect against threats to its economic and national security.
Silvaco Group, a California-based company that provides software solutions for semiconductor design, received a cautionary letter from the Office of Foreign Assets Control after disclosing possible sanctions violations involving Russia.
Russian-German national Arthur Petrov was extradited to the U.S., making his initial appearance in court Aug. 9 for allegedly committing export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud and money laundering, DOJ announced. Extradited from Cyprus, Petrov was charged for his part in a scheme to ship more than $225,000 worth of U.S.-sourced microelectronics to companies supplying weapons to the Russian military.
The State Department is seeking public comments on four information collections from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, the agency said in a notice this week. The collections deal with export licenses for unclassified defense articles and related unclassified technical data; license applications for temporary imports of unclassified defense articles; applications for temporary export of unclassified defense articles; and applications to amend those export or temporary import licenses.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 12 again extended a general license that continues to delay an exemption that would authorize certain transactions related to Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. General License 5P, which replaced GL 5O, now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after Nov. 12. The previous license was set to allow those transactions to occur on or after Aug. 13.
The Biden administration is “reviewing closely” the requirements of new laws authorizing sanctions on Iranian oil and “will ensure the rigorous implementation of their provisions” as they take effect, a State Department official recently told a lawmaker.
A new set of export controls on U.S. persons activities and other transactions could require “dramatic expansions” to some companies’ internal compliance programs, Akin Gump said this month, including additional compliance training, end-user certifications and greater due diligence of suppliers and customers.
Mark Dallas, a Union College professor of political science, Asian studies and technology, has joined the Bureau of Industry and Security on temporary assignment as a senior adviser, he announced last week on LinkedIn. While on leave from his teaching job, Dallas said he will work on China export controls and provide “support” in the agency’s Office of Technology Evaluation on “cutting-edge technology R&D in US, China and Europe.” Dallas, who is also a China fellow with the Wilson Center, also will help with issues involving “emerging commercial technologies.”
U.S. export controls are blocking Huawei's access to evidence that it needs to prepare for its upcoming trial on racketeering, trade secret theft and other charges (see 2002130045), the Chinese technology company said in a court filing last week.