The U.S. has been “abusing export controls” and “politicizing tech and trade issues and using them as a tool and weapon” to “hold on to its hegemony and serve its selfish agenda,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in response to a question about a reported agreement on chip controls between the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan (see 2301270002). “China is firmly against this,” she said at a regularly scheduled press conference Jan. 30. “Such practices serve no one’s interests. They destabilize global industrial and supply chains and have given rise to global concerns.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security added seven Iranian entities to the Entity List for aiding Russia’s military and defense industrial base. The additions, effective Jan. 31, will also be subject to the Russia/Belarus-Military End User Foreign Direct Product rule. They will require a license for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulation, and BIS will review license applications under a policy of denial except for certain food and medicine, which will be reviewed case by case. No license exceptions will be available.
The upcoming U.S. outbound investment review tool probably won’t be used to unwind past deals, and will likely only target investments in specific, sensitive technology areas, said Laura Black, a former Treasury Department official. But she said companies still should prepare for a new outbound investment executive order and be ready for other jurisdictions to implement their own outbound investment controls, including in the EU.
The EU extended its Russia sanctions regime for another six months, and they now will expire July 31, the European Council announced Jan. 27. The sanctions, while first introduced in 2014, were significantly expanded in February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine and include a broad array of sectoral trade restrictions.
The European Commission Directorate-General for Trade on Jan. 24 opened a consultation over dual-use export control guidelines. Stakeholders interested in making their voice heard on the EU guidelines for data collection and preparation of the EU annual report on dual-use export controls can submit comments up to Feb. 28. The EU is accepting feedback from exporters, industry associations, government authorities, academia, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations and others.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week renewed its temporary denial order for a Venezuela-based cargo airline after saying it continues to try to violate U.S. export restrictions (see 2208030014). BIS said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or Emtrasur, has shown a “blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of a preexisting TDO.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., introduced bills last week to ban TikTok, the short-video platform owned by China-based Byte Dance. "Banning [Chinese Communist Party] tied TikTok nationwide is the only route to ending this malicious cybersecurity threat,” Buck said in a press release.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., is working on a bill to revise certain aspects of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, he said in a brief interview at the Capitol last week. There are a “lot of opportunities” under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership that “we haven’t realized right now,” Gallagher said, adding that the ITAR “remains a barrier to cooperation with the Aussies and the Brits.” It “makes no sense to me,” he said.
The Treasury Department is seeking public comments on an information collection on certain reporting requirements under the financial sanctions regulations for Hezbollah. U.S. financial institutions that maintained a correspondent account or payable-through account for certain foreign financial institutions listed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control must file a report with OFAC that includes “full details on the closing of each such account, and on all transactions processed or executed through the account.” This report must be filed with OFAC within 30 days of the account's closure. Public comments are due March 1.
Japan last week strengthened its sanctions and export controls against Russia to better restrict sensitive technologies and align its controls with “measures taken by other major countries.” The new measures impose asset freezes on a range of people and entities involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine, restrictions on “capital transactions” with certain Russian people and entities and an export prohibition on shipments to 49 entities. Japan also said it will impose export controls on “dual-use items which could contribute to the development of military capacity.”