The State Department this week sent a final rule for interagency review that would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to create definitions for activities that are not exports, reexports or retransfers. The rule would create definitions for a range of activities, including launching items into space, providing technical data to U.S. people within the U.S. or within a single country abroad, and moving defense articles between states, possessions and U.S. territories.
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.
Several Republican lawmakers criticized the Biden administration this week for reportedly (see 2108250018) granting export licenses for companies to ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of auto chips to Huawei. The licenses reportedly were approved within the past several months and authorized only exports of auto chips, which are viewed as less sensitive than other types of semiconductor-related items.
Instead of imposing more sanctions against the Taliban, the U.S. will likely try to repurpose existing regimes to better target the group, sanctions and security experts said. The task, which the experts expect to be “very” challenging, will aim to update a U.S. sanctions program that was originally intended to target terrorists but will need to now target the Taliban-controlled Afghan government. The efforts should be coordinated with allies, the experts added, but could be slowed by the delayed nominations of two senior Treasury Department sanctions officials, who have not yet cleared the Senate.
CBP will no longer classify shipments of certain used vehicles from the U.S. to Puerto Rico as exports, CBP said in an Aug. 24 message. Although the change will eliminate some filing requirements, others will remain, including certain Electronic Export Information filings.
Trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area has been “very slow” since it began in January, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of agreements over a range of nontariff barriers, said Petina Gappah, principal legal adviser to the AfCFTA. Gappah said many challenges remain before trade within the region operates smoothly, but she said she is hopeful progress will be made.
Several U.S. and multinational companies recently disclosed potential U.S. sanctions violations or updated previous disclosures. The cases involve a destruction of evidence in a sanctions investigation, potentially illegal transactions with Iran, a gaming software company and others.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recent settlement with Keysight Technologies shows the agency is growing more aggressive with certain compliance requirements and violations involving software and technical data, Miller & Chevalier said Aug. 18. At the same time, DDTC continues to reward cooperation and other mitigating factors with significant penalty reductions as it tries to incentivize companies to voluntarily disclose violations and work with the agency during its investigation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. semiconductor manufacturer $469,060 for working with others to export chip-making equipment to Chinese companies on the U.S. Entity List, BIS said in an Aug. 16 order. The company, California-based Dynatex International, violated the Export Administration Regulations because it didn’t obtain the required BIS license before shipping the equipment. Although BIS said Dynatex knew it was shipping items to blacklisted companies, the agency substantially reduced the fine as part of a settlement agreement.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a final rule to make technical corrections and clarifications (see 2108110010) to a 2020 rule that transferred export control jurisdiction over certain firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The rule, released Aug. 18 and effective Sept. 20, introduced changes to make the requirements “easier to understand” and “interpreted consistently,” BIS said.
Taiwan is preparing for Beijing foreign policy to grow more aggressive in the coming months and is expecting a strong retaliatory response if it signs a free trade deal with the U.S., a senior Taiwan official said. But the official stressed that the country wants to complete a trade and investment agreement with the U.S. and other democracies, which could strengthen its position as a leading global provider of semiconductors.