Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the Bureau of Industry and Security isn’t complying with congressional oversight requirements because it hasn’t yet provided him with information about its China licensing process that he requested in November. After McCaul requested “detailed information” on how BIS licenses U.S. technology to Chinese entities, BIS told him the data was “too difficult and time-consuming to compile,” McCaul said Feb. 16. But McCaul said BIS allowed “the same information to be shared with the media,” referencing a Feb 11 Reuters report on Huawei restrictions (see 2102120008). McCaul called BIS’s actions “completely inappropriate and only furthers my concerns that BIS has not woken up to the growing threat of the Chinese Community Party.” A BIS spokesperson didn’t comment.
Among the potential candidates to head the Bureau of Industry and Security is James Mulvenon, a Chinese technology expert at the aerospace company SOS International, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 11. Mulvenon is expected to be considered for the undersecretary role along with Kevin Wolf (see 2102090060), an export controls lawyer and a former BIS official, and could bring a more hard-line stance on U.S. technology exports to China, the report said.
Although the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control saw a decrease in total sanctions settlements last year, the agency increased its output of sanctions guidance and advisories, shedding more light on OFAC’s compliance expectations, sanctions lawyers said. Lawyers also said the agency flexed its enforcement jurisdiction by pursuing penalties against a variety of industries beyond large commercial banks, a trend that should continue this year.
The U.S. on Feb. 11 announced sanctions and export controls targeting the Myanmar military, defense ministry and security services after it carried out a coup earlier this month (see 2102100060). The White House also issued an executive order outlining a new Myanmar sanctions regime and said more restrictions will be imposed “in the coming days.”
Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce Department official, said he has not been contacted by the Biden administration about heading the Bureau of Industry and Security, despite a Feb. 6 report in the Financial Times that said Wolf is viewed as a front-runner. “I have no information,” Wolf said Feb. 8. “I do not know who [Biden] will nominate.” Wolf served as Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration under the Obama administration before joining Akin Gump as an export control and trade lawyer. The report said Biden has yet to name his choice for BIS undersecretary. The White House didn't comment.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Feb. 4 posted a new video providing guidance on applying for a license to export biological items. The roughly 10-minute video illustrates how to determine license requirements, use licensing exceptions and apply for licenses for biological items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
Industry should expect the Biden administration’s review of Trump-era China policies -- including export controls and licensing decisions -- to take two to three months, trade lawyer Peter Lichtenbaum said. He also said the Bureau of Industry and Security will continue to adhere to the Trump administration's strict Huawei licensing policy until it’s changed by incoming political appointees, which has not yet happened.
Commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo was asked several times in written questions from senators after her hearing about how she would balance the need to prevent cutting edge technologies from being shared with adversaries but also allow U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to compete with foreign companies that don't have the same restrictions on selling chips.
Mediterranean Shipping Company will pay over $80,000 to settle allegations that it violated anti-boycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations, according to documents recently posted to the Bureau of Industry and Security website. The steamship line’s Chicago office allegedly agreed to requests to add Israel boycott clauses to shipping documentation, and failed to report those requests as required by the EAR, BIS said in charging documents.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, in the Census Bureau’s January trade newsletter, addressed several frequently asked questions about filing requirements for exports to China, Russia and Venezuela. The agency detailed how electronic export information (EEI) filing requirements apply to exports and which license exceptions are available. It also provided contact information for exporter questions. Filing requirements apply to more exports than just those captured under the agency’s April rule on exports to military end-users and for end-uses (see 2004270027), BIS said. There won’t be a new “license-type code” for EEI filings in the Automated Export System for exports controlled for anti-terrorism reasons, BIS said.