BIS has recently updated its Guidelines for Preparing Export License Applications Involving Foreign Persons (Deemed Exports/Reexports).
On September 6, the U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Treasury jointly released an updated warning for U.S. businesses about risks to their operations and activities in Hong Kong. Risk factors that were formerly limited to mainland China are now also a concern in Hong Kong and could affect commerce, trade, and seemingly routine individual commercial activities in Hong Kong. Many of these risks stem from the 2020 Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR (National Security Law, or NSL), as well as the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNS Ordinance), which was enacted in March 2024 under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
BIS released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining a new mandatory reporting requirement for the world’s leading AI developers and cloud providers. The proposed rule requires developers of the most powerful AI models and computing clusters to provide detailed reporting to the federal government. This includes reporting about developmental activities, cybersecurity measures, and outcomes from red-teaming efforts, which involve testing for dangerous capabilities like the ability to assist in cyberattacks or lower the barriers to entry for non-experts to develop chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons.
A 76-year-old Texas man has been taken into custody on charges of smuggling parts and components used in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as other manned aircraft, from the United States to Iran. The complaint alleges that on several occasions, authorities searched Goodarzi’s luggage and found numerous aircraft parts and components hidden within articles of clothing.
The Justice Department today announced the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned and operated for the benefit of Nicolás Maduro Moros and persons affiliated with him in Venezuela. The aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the Southern District of Florida at the request of the United States based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws.
Global trade continues to face choppy waters due to rising geopolitical tensions, ongoing regional conflicts, shifting monetary policies in industrialized economies like the United States and falling export orders, according to the World Trade Organization’s trade barometer released last week. On a more positive note is a recovery in goods trade during the third quarter of 2024 after demand for traded goods stalled in 2023 when the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to fight inflation, the trade barometer suggested. Issued ahead of the WTO’s annual Public Forum – a major public relations event taking place next week – the goods trade barometer put the latest index value at 103.
The US trade deficit hit a two-year high of $78.8 billion in July on a rise in imports, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. The deficit was up by $5.8 billion, or 7.9 percent, from the $73 billion recorded in June. July exports were $266.6 billion, $1.3 billion more than June exports. But exports were far outpaced by July imports of $345.4 billion – a $7.1 billion increase over the previous month.
The Commerce Department should adopt a blanket “presumption of denial” posture for export license applications that would send critical technology to any entity based in China, according to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla). Commerce should impose the strict controls because of the demonstrably high risk that such applications are intended to circumvent export controls, the senator said.
North American Steel and Aluminum interests had more going on this week than the White House joining the campaign to keep the Japanese out of Pittsburgh. U.S. producers of corrosion resistant steel petitioned for relief, while the International Trade Commission extended the protections for common alloy aluminum sheet from China. Up North, Ottowa imposed 25% tariffs on Chinese aluminum,
The Labor Department has issued updates on the goods and products produced through the use of child or forced labor, the industries where children are exploited and how governments can combat these abuses. The department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs has published the 11th edition of its “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” and the 23rd edition of the “Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.”
The Administration is making US workers a top priority in ongoing trade talks through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity and with Kenya and Taiwan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Thursday. “Through all of this, we have made it clear to our trading partners that workers are at the heart of what we do. And it turns out that we all want to build our middle classes,” she told a meeting of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
American sheep operators are objecting to the apparent indifference of the USTR to the plight domestic industry. The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) notes that they have received no response regarding their request made over a year ago. Last week Protect American Lamb, a project of the R-CALF USA Sheep Committee, sent a letter to U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai asking for a determination regarding whether her office will request the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to conduct a Global Safeguard Investigation for the sheep industry.
A new air cargo screening directive issued Aug. 21 by the TSA has some carriers looking for clarification from the U.S. government, and at least one carrier has issued an embargo on U.S. routes via Europe. The emergency amendment – with restricted access –requires carriers to submit additional details of shippers and consignees to the US Customs and Border Protection agency.
A Virginia couple were indicted for sanctions violations and money laundering related to the Husband's work as a TV presenter and the wife's acting as an art & collectibles procurement agent for sanctioned Russian oligarch Aleksander Udoddov.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is implementing export controls on several semiconductor, quantum, and additive manufacturing items with an interim final rule published September 6th. The rule adds and revises Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) in the Commerce Control List, adds a new license exception for countries that have implemented equivalent technical controls, and adds two new worldwide license requirements to the national security and regional stability controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The new controls include a limited number of deemed export requirements in the sectors of quantum computers, materials, and related electronic assemblies; aerospace technology; and integrated circuit “development” or “production.”
Tuesday, September 3, the National Congress of Chile approved the agreement on Chile Market Access and Prior Users for Cheese and Meats. This agreement confirms the United States’ and Chile’s mutual understanding regarding market access to Chile for a number of U.S. cheese and meat products and how Chile will treat prior users of certain terms for cheeses.
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing Russia-related General License 25E - "Authorizing Transactions Related to Telecommunications and Certain Internet-Based Communications," along with a related FAQ. Additionally, OFAC is publishing an alert, "Russian Attempts to Evade Sanctions Using New Overseas Branches and Subsidiaries," to warn foreign jurisdictions and financial institutions about Russia’s attempts to evade sanctions by opening new overseas branches and subsidiaries of Russian financial institutions.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 10 individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Moscow’s efforts to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Beginning in early 2024, executives at RT—Russia’s state-funded news media outlet—began an ever more nefarious effort to covertly recruit unwitting American influencers in support of their malign influence campaign. RT used a front company to disguise its own involvement or the involvement of the Russian government in content meant to influence U.S. audiences. According to the Treasury statement, the Kremlin has increasingly adapted its efforts to hide its involvement by developing a vast ecosystem of Russian proxy websites, fake online personas, and front organizations that give the false appearance of being independent news sources unconnected to the Russian state.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last week, where the two sides agreed to initiate a call between the heads of state of both countries “in the coming weeks” and a video call at the military-theater-command level “at an appropriate time.” U.S. efforts to curtail Chinese access to advanced tech, including semiconductors, were criticized by Wang, with the top Chinese diplomat calling on Washington to stop politicizing trade issues.
RTX Corporation, the defense contracting roll-up formerly known as Raytheon, has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of State following a comprehensive investigation into violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). By paying $100 million in fines and promising to spend another $100 million on compliance programs, the firm avoids debarment and further criminal or civil action.
