House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans are asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on its export enforcement and compliance efforts involving China, including steps to crack down on Chinese transfers of controlled U.S. technology to State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSTs). In a letter sent to BIS last week, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the committee, said he is concerned China’s “economic and trade ties” with terrorism sponsors is “undermining U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” He and Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., asked BIS to provide information on recent Chinese export violations, licensing procedures, end-use checks and more by March 2.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued new guidance this week on aid-related transactions that can be provided to Syria to help the country’s earthquake relief efforts. OFAC said it has been receiving questions from non-governmental organizations and others on how to provide aid to Syria while still complying with U.S. sanctions against the country. The guidance includes information on the Syria general license the agency issued earlier this month (see 2302100006), and addresses some frequently asked questions surrounding what activities and transactions are permitted.
Top Chinese academics believe the country should “amass a portfolio of patents that govern the next generation of chipmaking” to allow the country to counter U.S. semiconductor export controls, according to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report. The report cites a bulletin recently published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s “most influential scientific body,” which could represent China’s plan to evade U.S. export restrictions and demonstrate how it “could win a crucial technological conflict with Washington,” the report said.
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The U.S. and its allies are planning a “renewed effort” to counter Russia’s sanctions evasion tactics, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said this week, speaking during a Feb. 21 event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. He said part of the effort will include new sanctions and export controls, more enforcement cooperation with allies and more direct conversations with companies that are still doing business with Russia.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced two bills last week that could impose new sanctions and export controls against Iran. The Deterring Iranian Support for Russia in Ukraine and Pre-empting Terrorism Act (Disrupt Act) would require sanctions on Iranian entities that provide military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and would prevent the president from lifting sanctions on those entities unless Iran “ends its support” of Russia. The Sanctioning Transfers and Outbound Products to Iran Act (Stop Iran Act) would require the Commerce Department to increase export restrictions on Iranian entities that support terrorist activities and would better prevent U.S.-made products and components, including semiconductors, from being used to support Iranian terrorism, Lankford said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will expedite export license applications for items related to humanitarian and earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Syria, BIS announced Feb. 17. Although most aid-related items don’t require a license under the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said it will fast-track any items that do, including heavy equipment, telecommunications hardware and software, portable generators, medical devices, water purification equipment, sanitation equipment and shelter materials.
The State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations need “major reform” if the U.S. wants the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership to succeed, Rajiv Shah, a fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote Feb 16. AUKUS, which is aimed at allowing the three trade partners to better share sensitive defense technology, is being hindered by the ITAR, Shah said in his ASPI article, which too often “stymie[s] collaboration and innovation between allies” and provides “no obvious reduction in security risk.”
As U.S. government regulators continue to face pressure from Congress to more quickly place export restrictions on emerging technologies, the Commerce Department and industry officials are grappling with the potential ethical consequences of controls on a technology that could have groundbreaking medical benefits.
The U.K. issued two General Licenses to allow greater humanitarian relief efforts in Syria in response to the earthquakes that rocked the region, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The licenses, one issued by OFSI and the other by the Export Control Joint Unit, remove the need for individual license applications.