The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to the Defense Production Act, BIS said in a notice released Sept. 15. The collection is related to the DPA's authority with regard to performance of contracts and orders “supporting national defense and emergency preparedness program requirements.” Comments are due Nov. 16.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau recently completed rules related to export controls and Electronic Export Information filing requirements, but they have not yet been published due to delays at the Federal Register office, officials said. A final rule from BIS will implement export control decisions stemming from the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary, including new restrictions on emerging technologies (see 2008100013). An advance notice of proposed rulemaking from Census will seek comments on removing certain EEI filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2008110017 and 2006030043).
FedEx is considering appealing a Sept. 10 federal court decision (see 2009110038) that dismissed the shipping company’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, a FedEx spokesperson said. The company, which told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations and was applying overly burdensome liability standards on carriers, said it still believes its arguments are valid. “FedEx respectfully disagrees with the court’s decision and is disappointed by this ruling,” the spokesperson said in a Sept. 11 statement, adding that the company is “considering our legal options, including appeal.”
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 1906250030), saying the shipping company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should impose targeted export controls on specific facial recognition software but take care not to restrict the entire technology category, some of which can be used for benign purposes, IBM said. While some technologies are “clear use-cases that must be off limits” for export, such as artificial intelligence-powered software used for mass surveillance and human rights abuses, other technologies are safe for everyday uses, the company said.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s June 24 lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, saying the company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added, revised and made technical changes to export controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes under the 2018 Wassenaar Arrangement (see 2007220015). Per a final rule released Sept. 10, BIS revised 28 Export Control Classification Numbers, altered license exceptions for four ECCNs, made technical changes to eight ECCNs and created one new ECCN for certain masks and reticles used for sensors. The rule follows a May 2019 rule that added controls to five technologies under the 2018 Wassenaar (see 1905220051).
The U.S. seized two websites run by a U.S.-sanctioned foreign terrorist organization, the Justice Department said Sept. 2. The websites, Aletejahtv.com and Aletejahtv.org, belonged to Kata’ib Hizballah, “an Iran-backed terrorist group active in Iraq,” which the Office of Foreign Assets Control listed in 2009 as a Specially Designated National. The group used the websites to publish videos and articles designed to “further Kata’ib Hizballah’s agenda,” the Justice Department said. P. Lee Smith, a top official within the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement, said the group was using U.S.-based online networks “to promote Iran backed terrorist propaganda.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. company $55,000 for illegally exporting rifle scopes to Canada, a Sept. 3 order said. The company, New York-based Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC, shipped the scopes on 10 separate occasions despite knowing that the exports were subject to the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said. The company did not seek a license from BIS for the shipments, valued at nearly $890,000 combined. Carl Zeiss must pay the fine by Oct. 1 or risk having its export privileges revoked.
The Trump administration is considering placing export controls on China’s top chipmaker, the latest move in a campaign of restrictions aimed at Chinese technology companies. The controls would target the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation by placing it on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, Reuters said in a Sept. 4 report. The effort is being spearheaded by the Defense Department, the report said, which petitioned Commerce’s End User Committee last week to add SMIC to the Entity List.