Among the potential candidates to head the Bureau of Industry and Security is James Mulvenon, a Chinese technology expert at the aerospace company SOS International, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 11. Mulvenon is expected to be considered for the undersecretary role along with Kevin Wolf (see 2102090060), an export controls lawyer and a former BIS official, and could bring a more hard-line stance on U.S. technology exports to China, the report said.
Although the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control saw a decrease in total sanctions settlements last year, the agency increased its output of sanctions guidance and advisories, shedding more light on OFAC’s compliance expectations, sanctions lawyers said. Lawyers also said the agency flexed its enforcement jurisdiction by pursuing penalties against a variety of industries beyond large commercial banks, a trend that should continue this year.
Andrea Delisi, former assistant chief counsel in the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, joined Morrison & Foerster in its National Security and Global Risk + Crisis Management groups, the firm announced Feb. 10. She previously advised OFAC on legal issues including the office's economic sanctions programs involving Venezuela, Syria, Iran, human rights, corruption and terrorism.
The Biden administration is looking to place new export controls on sensitive technologies destined for China, according to a Feb. 10 Reuters report, continuing a trend of technology controls begun under the Trump administration. But the U.S. hopes to better coordinate with allies on those controls instead of imposing unilateral restrictions that may damage the competitiveness of U.S. companies, the report said. A senior administration official told Reuters the U.S. is still reviewing Trump-era policies toward China and there may be areas of “continuity” on certain issues. “One of them is to ensure that we are not supplying highly sensitive technology that can advance China’s military capabilities. We will be bearing down on that,” the official said. The White House didn’t comment.
The Biden administration should pursue more multilateral engagement on export controls and continue to protect sensitive U.S. technologies, the American Leadership Initiative said in a Feb. 11 summary of an upcoming report. The ALI said the White House should establish an Office of Global Digital Policy, which would dedicate resources toward federal investment in research and development, promote exports and “protect key technologies.” The office, along with a “multipronged series of investment and export controls,” will help U.S. companies better compete with Chinese technology firms that benefit from government subsidies, the ALI said.
The U.S. on Feb. 11 announced sanctions and export controls targeting the Myanmar military, defense ministry and security services after it carried out a coup earlier this month (see 2102100060). The White House also issued an executive order outlining a new Myanmar sanctions regime and said more restrictions will be imposed “in the coming days.”
CBP is now operating under an “informed compliance umbrella” related to penalties over faulty “transportation data” included on Automated Export System filings, said Jim Swanson, director of the Cargo and Security Controls Division, for Cargo and Conveyance Security, CBP Office of Field Operations. Swanson, who spoke Feb. 10 during a National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones virtual conference, mentioned discrepancies with filed dates and ports as things CBP would like to see corrected rather than penalized. A set of penalty mitigation guidelines for failure to comply with Foreign Trade Regulations was updated in September.
An Australian man pleaded guilty after trying to help North Korea export weapons in violation of United Nations sanctions, Reuters reported Feb. 10. Chan Han Choi, a civil engineer born in South Korea, previously denied the charges but reversed course this week when he pleaded guilty to brokering a service for the sale of arms from Pyongyang and said he tried to export coal from North Korea to Indonesia, the report said. Choi’s sentencing in Australia is scheduled for March 19.
President Donald Trump didn't get China to agree to much in the way of structural changes, panelists said, but Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler said he put China front and center on the agenda, which was good. “He was really willing to take on the business community when it came to China,” she said. Cutler, who worked at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for more than 25 years, said that when she was at USTR, one of her frustrations in trying to negotiate with China was that U.S. “companies were pretty conflicted. They liked the … money they were making. They wanted us to be quote, unquote tough with China, but they didn’t want to be part of the get-tough strategy. Our hands were tied in a way.”
European Union Vice President Josep Borrell plans to place or review sanctions on Russian and Myanmar officials, he announced Feb. 9 during a European Parliament debate. Borrell, who visited Moscow last week, said sanctions could be included in a European response to the jailing of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Feb. 2. In another Feb. 9 speech, Borrell laid out his plans to consider imposing additional targeted sanctions on individuals and businesses owned by the Myanmar military for their involvement in the Feb. 1 military coup. He also announced his intention to assess the use of the Everything But Arms trade preferences.