The European Commission will present ideas this year on a potential outbound investment screening regime, which could look to prevent European investments in sensitive Chinese technology sectors, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week. She also said the EU will consider new trade restrictions on dual-use goods, including those that may be used for human rights abuses.
Japan recently loosened export restrictions on shipments of hydrogen fluoride, fluorinated polymide and resists to South Korea following the end of a long-running trade dispute between the two countries. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it added the three items, which are high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips, to the scope of its "Special General Bulk Export License system," effectively lifting the restrictions. The announcement, which took effect March 23, comes after South Korea withdrew its dispute complaint at the World Trade Organization (see 2303240044 and 2303170015).
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The Commerce Department will hold a public webinar on the agency’s proposed “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding, which could restrict how recipients use the funding in certain countries and align the guardrails with export restrictions (see 2303210026 and 2303220010). The March 30 webinar will be hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Chips Program Office, which will “review the national security measures included in the Chips and Science Act and the additional details and definitions outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” Participants must register. The presentation recording and transcript will be posted on the Chips for America website after the event.
The Commerce Department published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that seeks public comments on potential “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding. Comments on the rule, which would also align those funding restrictions with certain export controls, are due May 22. Commerce released the rule earlier this week (see 2303210026).
The EU is “assessing” whether to create an outbound investment screening regime, which could help it address “gaps” in its dual-use export controls, Valdis Dombrovskis, the bloc’s top trade official, told the European Parliament this week. “We're currently at the exploratory stage,” he said.
New frequently asked questions on the Bureau of Industry and Security's October China chip controls are “almost through their clearance process,” Sharron Cook, a BIS official, said during a Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting this week. “Those should be up shortly,” she said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is hoping its new Disruptive Technology Strike Force leads to more investigations of export control violations, faster prosecutions and more criminal enforcement actions, said John Sonderman, director of the BIS Office of Export Enforcement. The agency also is looking to clamp down on U.S.-origin items ending up in Iranian drones, said Kevin Kurland of OEE, warning that companies should make sure they’re complying with the new Iran Foreign Direct Product Rule issued last month.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department this week released proposed “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding, which could restrict how the funding is used in certain countries and align the guardrails with export restrictions. The proposed rule would block funding recipients from pursuing certain chip investments in China and other “foreign countries of concern,” restrict them from participating in certain research or technology licensing efforts with those countries, prevent the funding from being provided to companies on the Entity List and more, Commerce said.