The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting a proposed rule to revise license exception Additional Permissive Reexports, which allows certain reexports of controlled U.S. items from U.S. allies, including those listed under Country Group A:1 of the Export Administration Regulations. BIS sent the rule for interagency review Sept. 1. The agency in 2020 proposed reducing the number of countries eligible for the license exception, but trade groups and companies said the move could damage U.S. competitiveness (see 2009220037).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the potential market impact of the proposed FY 2025 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan, the agency said in a Sept. 1 notice. Comments will help inform the government of the “projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions, conversions, and disposals involving the National Defense Stockpile,” BIS said. Comments are due Oct. 5.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order last week against three people and four companies for their involvement in a scheme to illegally procure more than $225,000 worth of U.S. electronics components for Russia’s military. One of the individuals, Russian-German national Arthur Petrov, was arrested Aug. 26 in Cyprus and charged by DOJ with violating export controls and smuggling controlled goods from the U.S.
U.S. officials during their trip to China this week outlined expectations for end-use checks in the country and rebuffed requests from Beijing to reduce export restrictions on advanced technology, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. While the American contingent isn’t leaving China with concrete resolutions to trade issues, she said she believes commitments from both sides to increase communication, including as part of an export control enforcement working group, were a positive first step.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will now be able to renew its temporary denial orders for one year instead of the previous maximum of 180 days, the agency said in a final rule. BIS said it can now request extended renewals of TDOs if it demonstrates the parties subject to the orders -- which generally suspend them from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations -- have “engaged in a pattern of repeated, ongoing and/or continuous apparent violations of the EAR.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week released a second correction to its final rule earlier this month that expanded the scope of its nuclear-related export controls on China and Macau (see 2308110019). The correction fixes the Commerce Country Chart that was included in the original final rule. BIS also made a fix to the rule Aug. 17, correcting an "inadvertent error” in the rule’s “regulatory instructions” (see 2308170064).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of a California resident for the illegal sale of a controlled defense item to China and two others for illegally exporting firearms to Canada and Mexico.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China "welcomes" the Bureau of Industry and Security's recent move to drop 33 entities from its Unverified List after the agency carried out end-use checks (see 2308210015). The move, which included Chinese companies, shows that both countries can address "specific concerns through communication based on mutual respect," the spokesperson said. In a separate release, the country's Ministry of Commerce said the BIS decision is "conducive to the normal trade between Chinese and American companies and is in line with the common interests of both parties," according to an unofficial translation. BIS made the move after an agency policy change that lets it move companies from the UVL to the Entity List if BIS is unable to conduct an end-use check on those companies within 60 days.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 21 renewed a February temporary denial order that suspended the export privileges of Russian company Radiotester OOO and owner Ilya Balakaev for illegally shipping counterintelligence and military-related devices to Russia and North Korea (see 2302240042).
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