Although Huawei has been able to overcome strict U.S. export controls to design advanced, high-performing chips in recent years (see 2403070059, 2309190052 and 2309120005), a report this month from Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology suggests that Huawei’s chip performance increase is “smaller than advertised” and the company still faces significant production limits.
While the U.S. and the EU are increasingly aligning their views on China, the two sides still don’t yet fully agree on how to use export controls, investment restrictions and other economic security tools to respond to economic and national security threats posed by Beijing, panelists during a Center for a New American Security event said last week. They also said they expect challenges facing American businesses in China to continue to grow, particularly if the U.S. pursues more trade restrictions and as Beijing builds out its anti-foreign sanctions laws.
The Biden administration is aggressively using export controls and sanctions against China, despite a lawmaker’s claims to the contrary, a State Department official told a congressional panel June 27.
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., said June 26 that she is seeking Senate sponsorship of her House-passed bill that would codify sanctions against foreign persons who undermine the agreement that ended the Bosnian War.
Exporters must submit electronic export information in the Automated Export System when using the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Form 486 for exports of certain chemicals, the Census Bureau said in a June 27 email to industry. The agency said “it has come to U.S. Census Bureau’s attention that DEA considers DEA Form 486 to be an export permit, and therefore, filing EEI is required.” Census will work with DEA to revise Foreign Trade Regulations “to ensure any DEA permit or declaration that requires prior registration or notification with the DEA requires filing,” the agency said. “In the meantime, please ensure that all exports involving a DEA Form 486 have an associated EEI filing completed, regardless of value and destination.”
Canada this week issued sanctions against people and entities for contributing to Israeli extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The designations target seven people and five entities, including Zvi’s Farm, Hilltop Youth and others previously sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU (see 2403140019 and 2404190018).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control plans to issue guidance on a law signed by President Joe Biden in April that extended the statute of limitations on certain sanctions violations from five to 10 years (see 2404290071 and 2404240043), Baker McKenzie said in a client alert this week. The law firm recently hosted a talk with OFAC official Lawrence Scheinert who said the agency is “working through the relevant legal issues” and plans to issue guidance about how the “change will be implemented,” Baker McKenzie said.
The U.S. this week sanctioned three United Arab Emirates-based entities and 11 of their vessels for their ties to Iranian petroleum and petrochemical trade, the State Department said. The designations came as Iran announced steps “to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose,” the agency said.
Senior trade officials from the U.S., Japan and South Korea, during a meeting this week, discussed the importance of using export controls to stop foreign adversaries from acquiring their countries’ sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, clean energy technology and artificial intelligence. A readout of the meeting -- held with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito Ken, and Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun -- said the countries want to “deepen our coordination of export controls on advanced technologies” and take other actions to improve the security of their supply chains.
Senior U.S. sanctions and export control officials recently warned a group of American CEOs to do more due diligence on their semiconductor shipments, telling them Chinese suppliers are frequently sending their products to Russia.