The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls sent a final rule for interagency review that could make certain export control changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule is expected to finalize an April interim final rule that removed export controls from certain high-energy storage capacitors (see 2304260017).
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week completed a round of interagency review for an interim final rule that could update U.S. export controls on semiconductor manufacturing items. The rule underwent some changes during interagency review, which began Oct. 4 and was completed Oct. 13 (see 2310050015). The rule is distinct from the upcoming BIS rule that will finalize its Oct. 7, 2022, chip controls related to China (see 2310110030).
The U.S. has little room to expand sanctions against Hamas, but it could look to track down and designate additional front companies the terror group uses to fund its activities, said Jason Prince, former chief counsel at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Although OFAC has general licenses in place to authorize a broad range of humanitarian-related transactions involving Palestine, Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization could make some financial institutions less willing to approve those aid-related transactions, Prince said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security officially released the texts of two rules to update its Oct. 7, 2022, China chip controls, including an interim final rule that will update controls on certain semiconductor manufacturing items and another interim final rule that will update restrictions on certain advanced computing items, supercomputer and semiconductor end-uses and make other updates and corrections.
The Bureau of Industry and Security today will release a range of updates to its 2022 China chip rule, including new restrictions on several dozen additional chip tools and related items, updated export control parameters for chips used in artificial intelligence applications, a novel notification requirement for certain “gray-zone” chips that fall just below that updated threshold, a new license requirement for chip exports to companies headquartered in nations subject to a U.S. arms embargo and more. BIS also added 13 Chinese companies to the Entity List, effective Oct. 17, for developing advanced chips in ways BIS said are contrary to U.S. national security.
A U.K. appeals court last week granted an injunction blocking a Gazprom subsidiary from suing its lenders in a Russian court over an abandoned gas project. The England and Wales Court of Appeal said it was the proper place to bring RusChemAlliance's claim against Germany-based Deutsche Bank, adding that there was no good reason not to impose the injunction.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 13 expanded its general sanctions license covering payments to utility companies for gas and electricity by sanctioned parties who own or rent in the U.K. Originally set to expire on Oct. 16, the license no longer has an expiry date, the agency said. Additionally, the agency amended the license to allow a person to make permitted payments for or on behalf of a designated party.
Logistics companies, especially those based in China, should closely examine their U.S. export control risks, particularly after the Commerce Department added a range of Chinese logistics firms to the Entity List earlier this month for their involvement in microelectronics exports to Russia (see 2310060044), major Asian law firm King & Wood Mallesons said in a client alert last week.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls should publish guidance and take other steps to help expedite approvals for marketing demonstrations and other “pre-delivery activities” that occur before a foreign military sale, industry officials told the agency during its Defense Trade Advisory Group plenary last week. Officials also gave a host of other recommendations aimed at addressing issues plaguing the FMS program, including fixes that could help other agencies understand when a license isn’t required.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week will officially extend authorizations for South Korean semiconductor companies Samsung and SK Hynix to allow them to continue supplying certain controlled chip equipment to their Chinese factories. The move -- which formalizes authorizations that have applied to both companies since the agency issued its China chip rule Oct. 7, 2022 -- underscores the importance of the Korean chip industry to global semiconductor supply, BIS officials said.