Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions has settled with the Bureau of Industry and Security and will pay $48,750 to resolve violations of the agency’s antiboycott regulations, according to a Sept. 6 order. BIS said that the settlement stemmed from Pratt & Whitney's failure to timely report multiple requests to engage in restrictive trade practices and furtherance of an unsanctioned foreign boycott.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting a proposed rule to revise license exception Additional Permissive Reexports, which allows certain reexports of controlled U.S. items from U.S. allies, including those listed under Country Group A:1 of the Export Administration Regulations. BIS sent the rule for interagency review Sept. 1. The agency in 2020 proposed reducing the number of countries eligible for the license exception, but trade groups and companies said the move could damage U.S. competitiveness (see 2009220037).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the potential market impact of the proposed FY 2025 National Defense Stockpile Annual Materials Plan, the agency said in a Sept. 1 notice. Comments will help inform the government of the “projected domestic and foreign economic effects of all acquisitions, conversions, and disposals involving the National Defense Stockpile,” BIS said. Comments are due Oct. 5.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order last week against three people and four companies for their involvement in a scheme to illegally procure more than $225,000 worth of U.S. electronics components for Russia’s military. One of the individuals, Russian-German national Arthur Petrov, was arrested Aug. 26 in Cyprus and charged by DOJ with violating export controls and smuggling controlled goods from the U.S.
U.S. officials during their trip to China this week outlined expectations for end-use checks in the country and rebuffed requests from Beijing to reduce export restrictions on advanced technology, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. While the American contingent isn’t leaving China with concrete resolutions to trade issues, she said she believes commitments from both sides to increase communication, including as part of an export control enforcement working group, were a positive first step.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will now be able to renew its temporary denial orders for one year instead of the previous maximum of 180 days, the agency said in a final rule. BIS said it can now request extended renewals of TDOs if it demonstrates the parties subject to the orders -- which generally suspend them from participating in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations -- have “engaged in a pattern of repeated, ongoing and/or continuous apparent violations of the EAR.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week released a second correction to its final rule earlier this month that expanded the scope of its nuclear-related export controls on China and Macau (see 2308110019). The correction fixes the Commerce Country Chart that was included in the original final rule. BIS also made a fix to the rule Aug. 17, correcting an "inadvertent error” in the rule’s “regulatory instructions” (see 2308170064).
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that would align its export controls with changes recently made by the multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime. The final rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 25, would revise the Export Administration Regulations with MTCR decisions from 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The rule also would make revisions to the eligibility of one or more license exceptions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that could align its export controls with certain changes made by the Australia Group, a multilateral export control forum that focuses on chemical and biological weapons. The rule was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 25.
The U.S. and China launched a new commercial trade working group and a new pathway to exchange information on export control enforcement, two initiatives to allow the countries to better communicate around sensitive trade issues, the Commerce Department announced during meetings between Washington and Beijing officials this week. The export enforcement information sharing initiative, which will meet for the first time this week, is aimed at reducing “misunderstanding” surrounding U.S. policies toward China, Commerce said, including export restrictions on critical and sensitive technologies.