Companies could see a significant uptick in compliance responsibilities if the Bureau of Industry and Security follows through with a possible 50% rule for parties on the Entity List, although it’s unclear when exactly such a rule could take effect, former BIS officials said this week.

Chinese surveillance technology company Hikvision must close its businesses in Canada and stop all operations in the country after a foreign investment review by Canadian authorities.

President Donald Trump on June 30 signed an executive order to remove certain financial sanctions against Syria and authorize the "relaxation" of export controls against the country, part of broader effort to support Syria's "path to stability and peace," the White House said.

U.S. and Chinese officials said the two countries are still on pace for Beijing to ease its restrictions over rare earths and for Washington to lift its countermeasures, including export controls.

The Bureau of Industry and Security could streamline and strengthen its export license review process by improving its information sharing with other agencies involved in the process, especially the Defense, Energy and State departments, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

The U.S. and law firm Husch Blackwell again swapped briefs June 13 in the firm’s Freedom of Information Act dispute. Husch Blackwell said the government, which provided a list of more than 100 disclosed and undisclosed documents related to the firm’s FOIA request regarding an Entity List listing when it filed for summary judgment (see 2505300055), still wasn’t making clear which documents were actually responsive to the request (Husch Blackwell v. Department of Commerce, D.D.C. # 1:24-02733).

An Israeli telecommunications and cybersecurity technology company told the Bureau of Industry and Security that it may have violated export controls against Russia and Belarus.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week officially released its enforcement order, charging letter and settlement agreement involving Unicat Catalyst Technologies, the Texas-based industrial equipment supplier that recently was assessed millions of dollars in combined penalties by BIS, DOJ and the Office of Foreign Assets Control for allegedly violating export control and sanctions laws (see 2506170047).

As the Bureau of Industry and Security asks for more funding from Congress to improve its enforcement and technological capabilities, the agency could benefit from more information about controlled exports leaving third countries, said Matt Borman, a former senior BIS official. He also stressed the importance of the U.S. carefully calibrating any new export controls, and said its current semiconductors restrictions have successfully slowed China from producing the most advanced chips.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said June 17 that he expects the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership will demonstrate its worth in the Defense Department’s recently announced review of the security initiative.