The Bureau of Industry and Security this week posted its first tranche of Russia-related frequently asked questions to provide guidance on recent export control announcements. The FAQs cover license requirements, license application review policies, the agency's foreign direct product rules and de minimis rules, excluded countries, luxury goods, license exceptions and country group and country chart changes. The agency said it plans to update the guidance as it receives more questions and as new controls are announced.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. government is working through a range of challenges when delivering export control guidance to university researchers, government officials said, including to some colleges that opt out of certain projects rather than risk violating controls. The government is also still running into challenging questions about whether its controls should apply to fundamental research, one official said.
Congress should prioritize provisions in President Joe Biden’s recently proposed Ukraine-related aid package that will increase exports of military equipment to Ukraine and surrounding partners, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also stressed the importance of military aid but said the U.S. should take a broader look at global military supply chains to make sure it isn’t depleting its own supplies and those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
As countries continue to impose trade restrictions against Russia and Belarus, companies should expect longer review times and increased scrutiny on foreign direct investment involving either of those two nations, law firms said. Deal-makers in the EU should specifically prepare for more red tape resulting from a recent “sweeping” guidance from the European Commission, Fried Frank said in a May 2 alert, which could also speed up the rollout of further mandatory FDI screening regimes across Europe.
The State Department is “finalizing” discussions with several trading partners on its new open general license concept for certain defense exports, senior agency official Mike Miller. The concept, which could begin as a pilot program, would allow U.S. exports to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license (see 2109290056).
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced April 29. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until May 6.
President Joe Biden asked Congress this week for stronger authorities to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs and investigate and prosecute cases of sanctions evasion. The request was sent April 28 alongside a proposal for an additional $33 billion Ukraine-related aid package, including about $20 billion in additional military aid.
The State Department has moved “very effectively and very efficiently” to approve exports of military equipment to Ukraine since the invasion by Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken said the agency has been able to authorize some license applications in days that previously took several weeks. “This is moving quickly,” he said during an April 26 hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We have cut through a lot of red tape.”
The U.S. is facing a “real challenge” trying to meet growing EU demand for oil but is hopeful it can eventually help replace the bloc’s reliance on Russian energy imports, said Melanie Nakagawa, a National Security Council official. Nakagawa, speaking during an April 26 event hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said the U.S. is prioritizing efforts to create more U.S. energy export infrastructure so suppliers can ship more gas to the EU.
Hapag-Lloyd was ordered to pay $822,220 by a U.S. administrative law judge after a Federal Maritime Commission investigation determined the carrier imposed unfair detention fees, according to an April 22 decision. Hapag-Lloyd “acted unreasonably” by charging detention fees on a drayage provider that was unable to make appointments to return empty containers, the FMC’s Bureau of Enforcement said, and continued to impose the charges after they were disputed alongside “corroborating evidence.”