The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it will stop chip shipments to Huawei due to the Bureau of Industry and Security's increased license restrictions, Nikkei Asian Review reported July 16. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the company has not taken any new orders from Huawei since BIS issued a rule May 15 increasing restrictions (see 2005150058), the report said. “Although the regulation just finished its public comment period, the BIS did not make a final ruling change. Under this circumstance, we do not plan to ship wafers [to Huawei] after Sept. 14,” Liu told investors at a conference, according to the report. TSMC did not comment. Liu did not say whether TSMC plans to apply for export licenses. The company recently announced plans to build a chip factory in Arizona (see 2005150033). U.S. lawmakers are concerned that could disadvantage U.S. chip companies if TSMC is awarded unfair subsidies (see 2005200030 and 2005270030).

The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering imposing new license requirements on facial recognition software and surveillance-related items that may be used for crowd control reasons or to violate human rights. BIS said in a notice it is reviewing changes to the Commerce Control List and is seeking industry feedback about CCL items that are restricted for crime control and detection reasons. Comments are due Sept. 15.

The Commerce Department’s long-awaited proposed regulations on routed export transactions may not be issued until next year, a Census Bureau official said. Both Census and the Bureau of Industry and Security have been working closely on the rule but have struggled to pinpoint a release date. “I thought it would happen this year, but I'm going to go with probably 2021,” Kiesha Downs, chief of Census’ Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, said during a July 15 webinar hosted by Census. “It's just a matter of ironing out a couple more things.”

The House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would increase trade funding at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Bureau of Industry and Security and the International Trade Administration. The committee voted July 14, and now goes to the full House. The bill, which passed the committee only with Democrat votes, and so may not be tolerable to the Republicans who control the Senate, increases funding to BIS by $9.6 million, to $137.6 million. It increases funding to USTR by $1 million, to $55 million, and ups funding to the International Trade Administration by $21.4 million, to $542.4 million. Spending for CBP will be part of a Department of Homeland Security bill, and the amount has not been determined yet.

The Commerce Department published its spring 2020 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security. The agenda includes a new mention of a rule to control “software” for the operation of “automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” capable of designing and building “functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.” BIS said the software can be used in the production of pathogens and toxins, with the potential for those to make their way into biological weapons if export controls on the software are lacking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, part of BIS’ effort to control emerging and foundational technologies (see 2005190052), will request industry comments about how the controls might affect “legitimate commercial or scientific applications.” BIS said it aims to issue the proposed rule this month.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began an interagency review for a final Bureau of Industry and Security rule to suspend license exceptions for Hong Kong. OIRA received the rule July 10. BIS announced last month it was suspending license exceptions for shipments to the region and issued a guidance and a savings clause for exports affected by the move (see 2006300050).

Companies affected by the Bureau of Industry and Security's recent rule on military-related exports (see 2004270027) were frustrated by the lack of a comment period before the rule was finalized and BIS’s decision not to postpone the effective date, industry officials said in interviews. Some officials said they were disappointed the new requirements were not first issued as a proposed rule, adding that smaller businesses with fewer compliance department employees have struggled to adjust.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked Mahin Mojtahedzadeh’s export privileges after he was convicted of illegally exporting gas turbine parts to Iran, a July 1 order said. Mojtahedzadeh was convicted Jan. 30, 2020, of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sentenced to time served and a $5,000 fine (see 2002030015). BIS revoked Mojtahedzadeh’s export privileges for 10 years from his date of conviction.

Hong Kong is advising importers of U.S.-origin goods to check with their sellers about possible trade interruptions after the Bureau of Industry and Security increased restrictions on exports to the region. Hong Kong’s Trade and Industry Department will work with “the licensees concerned to cancel the relevant unused licences,” the agency said July 2. “Otherwise, traders might risk themselves violating the relevant U.S. laws and regulations.”

Rich Ashooh, the Commerce Department’s assistant secretary for export administration, submitted his resignation and will officially leave the agency July 16, a Commerce spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to comment on the reasons for Ashooh’s departure. Ashooh’s resignation was first reported by Reuters.