The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 30 parties to its boycott requester list, a list of entities that have asked other companies to boycott goods from certain countries in violation of the Export Administration Regulations. It also removed 18 parties after they certified that they "stopped making boycott-related requests in transactions with U.S. persons," BIS said.
Members of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee were asked during their April 3 meeting to sign or re-sign non-disclosure agreements as Trump administration officials review how the TACs operate.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week revoked the export privileges of a Kenya-based company and two people for trying to illegally export airplane parts from the U.S. to Russia, including by lying to American freight forwarders and other businesses about where the parts would be sent. It also warned that the company and people are continuing to try to illegally buy export controlled parts from American businesses.
The U.S. this week unsealed an indictment charging José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of the Ecuadorian drug trafficking group Los Choneros, with smuggling firearms from the U.S. along with other drug and weapons-related charges. DOJ said Macías Villamar helped Los Choneros obtain firearms and weapons by illegally trafficking and exporting them from the U.S., including by hiring people to buy guns in the U.S. and smuggle them to Ecuador.
The Trump administration should reverse a planned $20 million funding cut for the Bureau of Industry and Security, which will hamper the agency’s ability to enforce export controls and weaken American technology competitiveness, a tech policy non-profit said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security reinstated a pause on export license applications last week, four people with knowledge of the situation said, days after officials announced at the agency’s March update conference that licensing was expected to soon return to normal.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on March 31 renewed the temporary denial order for Russian air cargo carrier Aviastar for one year after finding it continues to violate U.S. export controls. The agency said the airline has continued to illegally operate aircraft subject to the Export Administration Regulations, including for flights within Russia and between Russia and India.
The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision last week to add the research organization to the Entity List and urged BIS to remove it (see 2503250075). "Artificial intelligence is a shared resource for humanity, akin to electricity and other transformative technological advancements," the academy said, according to a report from state-run news outlet China Daily. "The US decision contradicts the spirit of scientific innovation and global cooperation, severely undermining openness in AI research and development.” The academy was added for allegedly trying to buy export-controlled U.S. items to develop large AI models and advanced semiconductors for China’s military.
Four Democratic lawmakers said this week that the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, will reduce international collaboration and make it harder to keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China.
House Select Committee on China ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., urged the Trump administration March 31 to investigate whether China’s Yantai iRay Technology Co. Ltd. is evading U.S. sanctions by selling its thermal imaging products in the U.S. through subsidiaries and other affiliated entities.