A government technical advisory committee is working on two reports about compliance challenges posed by the Bureau of Industry and Security's foreign direct product rule and its semiconductor export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working on another rule to address some of the comments it received from its updated semiconductor export controls released in October (see 2310170055), said Sharron Cook, a senior BIS export policy analyst.
The next administration should look to raise criminal penalties for trade theft, broaden the scope of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and refocus its export controls on military technologies to better compete with China, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said this week. ITIF also said the U.S. should push for a new “techno-economic alliance” of key trading partners and develop a new multilateral export control regime focused on semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., during a hearing on competition with China in the Western Hemisphere, argued that the shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic show that businesses should move supply chains to the Western Hemisphere.
Although the U.S. and the EU have been collaborating more closely on technology export controls and supply chain due diligence laws, there are still “massive questions” about whether those controls will extend to more mature-node semiconductors and how new EU supply chain laws are going to affect companies doing business in Europe, said U.S.-EU trade and security consultant Frances Burwell.
The nearly 700 companies that the Bureau of Industry and Security has flagged for potentially sending export controlled goods to Russia include foreign suppliers in China, Turkey, India and others across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, according to a list obtained by Export Compliance Daily.
The Treasury Department has drafted a proposed rule that could lead to new outbound investment restrictions and notification requirements on deals involving China. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for interagency review June 5, would build on the advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued by Treasury in August, which requested public comments on potential requirements for U.S. investments in China's quantum technology, artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries (see 2308090066). Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in May that the administration hopes to finalize the new rules by the end of this year (see 2405080039).
Lawmakers are proposing dozens of export control-, sanctions- and foreign investment-related amendments to the House version of the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including measures aimed at China, Iran and Russia.
The House of Representatives voted 247-155 on June 4 to pass a bill that would sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if they issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.
U.S. in-house attorneys need to be more vigilant than ever when investigating possible export control violations, lawyers said this week, adding that the risks of a possible civil or criminal penalty for a subpar internal investigation, or for not disclosing a violation quickly enough, are rising.