The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to move forward with its May proposal for new export controls over four dual-use biological toxins (see 2205200017). The agency on Aug. 17 sent a final rule for interagency review that would implement the controls, which would apply to the marine toxins brevetoxin, gonyautoxin, nodularin and palytoxin. BIS said the toxins can be exploited for biological weapons purposes and the controls were proposed in May as unilateral restrictions because the Australia Group hadn't yet agreed to the controls. The agency received two public comments on the controls (see 2207190014).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued a new set of frequently asked questions covering the Entity List, Russia-related export controls and Russia-related sanctions evasion.
The Bureau of Industry and Security extended a comment period on an information collection involving evaluations of its export compliance training seminars. BIS said it usually conducts more than 30 export compliance seminars per year, and said feedback on the seminars is “vital to ensuring the quality and relevance of outreach programs.” BIS previously requested public input in June, and now will allow another 30 days for submission of comments.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week announced new export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines. The controls, which were agreed to by members of the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement at last year’s plenary, will apply to two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software and certain pressure gain combustion (PGC) technology.
Even though U.S. export controls haven’t cut into SMIC’s profit margins, they have hurt the Chinese semiconductor company’s ability to advance its chip-producing technology, said Min-Hua Chiang, a Heritage Foundation research fellow. Because restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security limit SMIC’s ability to import equipment for making chips below 10 nanometers, the company is “stuck with using older technology,” she wrote in an August post. “Without access to foreign equipment,” the post said, “it will be very difficult for China to produce the most advanced chips any time soon, putting a severe crimp in Beijing’s plans for its military and security apparatus.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 4 sent a final rule for interagency review that would implement certain export control decisions made during the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement cycle. The rule will revise the Commerce Control List and corresponding parts of the Export Administration Regulations, including License Exception Adjusted Peak Performance, BIS said. The agency recently completed review of a separate rule involving new export control decisions for emerging technologies agreed to at the 2021 Wassenaar plenary (see 2208030007).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week charged a Chinese company with violating U.S. export controls when it helped Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation sell controlled items to Iran. The company, Far East Cable, served as a “cutout” between ZTE and several Iranian telecommunications companies, BIS said, helping ZTE “conceal and obfuscate” its business dealings in Iran from U.S. investigators. In total, BIS said Far East Cable committed 18 violations of the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed an interagency review of an interim final rule involving new export control decisions for emerging technologies agreed to at the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary. The rule, which was first sent for interagency review March 8 (see 2203090009), was completed Aug. 2. It will harmonize the Commerce Control List with a portion of Wassenaar’s 2021 decisions for certain “recently developed or developing technologies,” BIS said.