The House of Representatives plans to vote on several export control-related bills next week, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.
China will launch a dispute at the World Trade Organization in response to Canada’s decision to impose new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle, steel and aluminum imports (see 2408260033), the country’s commerce ministry said Sept. 3. The ministry also said it will begin separate antidumping duty investigations on imports of Canadian canola and certain chemicals after receiving requests for those probes from Chinese companies.
The U.S. government should make greater use of economic sanctions against the Houthis to weaken the Yemen-based group’s ability to attack international shipping in the Red Sea, a Yemeni think-tank leader recommended Sept. 4.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Sept. 3 that the Bureau of Industry and Security is failing to stem the flow of U.S.-made advanced computing chips to China and must take additional steps to stop the “semiconductor leakage.”
The Netherlands won’t renew licenses that had allowed leading Dutch chip equipment maker ASML to repair and maintain certain semiconductor equipment in China, Bloomberg reported last week. Those licenses are expected to expire later this year, the report said, and had covered ASML’s advanced deep ultraviolet lithography machines. The Bureau of Industry and Security had been pushing certain allies, including the Netherlands, to stop their semiconductor companies from servicing certain advanced chip tools under pre-existing contracts with Chinese customers (see 2403270038).
Defense firm RTX Corp. will pay $200 million to settle alleged violations of U.S. defense export controls, the largest standalone export penalty ever issued by the State Department. RTX voluntarily disclosed the 750 violations, the agency said in a charging letter, most of which involved “historical” issues by an aerospace firm acquired by RTX in 2018.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had “extended discussions” about economics and national security, including technology export controls, in talks with senior leaders in China this week (see 2408280042), he said during an Aug. 29 press conference in Beijing.
China won't impose provisional antidumping duties on imports of EU brandy even after determining European companies are dumping brandy in the Chinese market, the country’s commerce ministry announced Aug. 29, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry, which launched the AD probe in January, said its domestic brandy industry “was threatened with substantial damage” and that it found “there was a causal relationship between the dumping and the threat of substantial damage.” It added: “No temporary anti-dumping measures will be taken in this case.” The ministry is accepting public comments on its decision for 10 days.
The State Department fined U.S. defense firm RTX Corp. $200 million to settle alleged violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, one of the largest standalone export penalties ever issued by the agency. The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said the 750 violations, most of which involved the “historical systemic failures” of an aerospace systems company acquired by RTX, stemmed from export control classification issues, the illegal “hand-carry” of defense items to another country and violations of the terms of DDTC licenses. RTX voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included exports of prohibited items to Lebanon, Iran, Russia and China.
The Treasury Department issued a final rule this week that will make investment advisers subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements, which it said will close a loophole that allows criminal actors to hide money in the U.S. and sanctioned companies to access sensitive technology through investments in American firms.