The Commerce Department is investigating Ronda Korea, a manufacturer of parts for semiconductor equipment, and other South Korean equipment makers for possibly violating U.S. export controls by selling to restricted Chinese companies, The Information said in a May 30 report. The agency is specifically probing Ronda Korea for potentially selling parts to “sanctioned” Chinese companies using technology developed by Lam Research, a U.S. chip equipment maker, the report said. A Bureau of Industry and Security spokesperson didn’t respond to our request for comment.
China will place export controls starting June 1 on various military and dual-use equipment, software and technology, including items used in the aerospace and shipbuilding industries, along with “ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers,” the country’s commerce Ministry said May 30, according to an unofficial translation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted an interim final rule that could update or clarify how export controls apply to releases of technology for standards setting or development in standards organizations. The agency sent the rule for interagency review May 17. BIS last issued updates to these controls in 2022, when it expanded an authorization for the release of controlled technology for certain standards-setting activities, including when companies on the Entity List are participating in those bodies (see 2209080038).
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a proposed rule for interagency review that could lead to new export controls on the activities of U.S. persons in support of foreign military, security or intelligence agencies.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more help from companies to stop Russia from acquiring export controlled semiconductors and other microelectronics, Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official, said May 8 during a semiconductor summit hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The joint Commerce Department-DOJ Disruptive Technology Strike Force has helped the government pool resources to investigate and prosecute export control violations, “but even this impactful coordinated effort across government enforcement agencies is, by itself, insufficient to meet the national security moment we’re facing,” Axelrod said. “[F]rankly, we need everyone to do more.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security will make several “conforming and clarifying” changes to the Export Administration Regulations to fix and update country and destination references, remove “obsolete” references, correct inadvertent errors and make other minor revisions.
The Commerce Department has revoked export licenses used by Intel and Qualcomm to sell certain semiconductors to Huawei, the Financial Times reported May 7. The report said the companies used the licenses to sell chips for Huawei’s laptops and mobile phones. A Commerce spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but told the Financial Times that the agency “continuously” assesses its export controls, and “as part of this process, as we have done in the past, we sometimes revoke export licenses.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued a correction to its April interim final rule that reduced license requirements for exports to Australia and the U.K. as part of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. partnership (see 2404180035). The correction fixes a footnote in the rule to add “greater specificity” for the Export Control Classification Numbers mentioned “so only portions of those 0x5zz ECCNs” that were previously controlled for national security or regional stability reasons for the destinations of Australia and the U.K. “will continue to require a license to Australia and the United Kingdom based on the license requirements specified in this footnote.” The changes took effect May 6.
The U.S. this week urged U.N. Security Council members “to be especially diligent” in implementing Resolution 1540, which calls on countries to prevent transfers of weapons of mass destruction and “know-how” to non-state actors. In an April 29 statement, the State Department marked the 20th anniversary of the resolution and said UNSC members should make sure “transfers of sensitive goods and know-how with both WMD and legitimate commercial applications” aren't “allowed to fall outside of regulatory control and into the hands of proliferators.”
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) intends to provide “detailed feedback” to the State Department to help it improve proposed regulations that would exempt Australia and the U.K. from International Traffic in Arms Regulations under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) Enhanced Trilateral Security Partnership, the head of the industry group said May 1.