The U.S. should have placed export controls on a broader range of semiconductors, including legacy chips, as part of its efforts over the last year to restrict sales of advanced semiconductors to China, said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former acting Bureau of Industry and Security undersecretary. She said a lack of legacy chip controls is allowing China to dominate that sector of the industry and grab market share away from companies in the U.S. and its allies, including South Korea and Taiwan.
DOJ-Commerce Department Disruptive Technology Strike Force senior officials traveled to Ukraine last week to speak with Ukrainian officials about Russia-related export enforcement and ways the two sides can better share information. The delegation -- which included Matthew Axelrod, Commerce’s top export enforcement official, and Matthew Olsen, the head of DOJ’s National Security Division -- spoke about efforts to “stop the flow of sensitive technologies to aid the Russian war machine,” the Bureau of Industry and Security said in a readout of the meetings.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order on Nov. 7 against seven people and three companies for orchestrating a scheme to illegally export millions of dollars worth of export-controlled dual-use electronics to Russia. BIS said the U.S.-origin items were bought by Russian procurement agents and transshipped through other countries before being delivered to Russian companies with ties to the country’s military.
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a proposed rule for interagency review that could lead to changes to its end-use and end-user-based export controls. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Nov. 3, could specifically amend the BIS U.S. persons controls involving military and military intelligence end uses and end users.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined Forta, a U.S. synthetic fiber manufacturer, $44,750 after the company violated BIS’ antiboycott regulations. Forta voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included providing its freight forwarder ahead of a trade show in Abu Dhabi with certifications that its products weren’t made with Israeli labor or raw materials.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to soon issue a rule that will offer clarifications and corrections to its recently updated export controls on advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration (see 2310170055).
The Bureau of Industry and Security and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network this week issued another set of export control evasion red flags for financial service firms along with a new key term that banks and others can include in their suspicious activity reports to FinCEN. The new term will “enable even more BIS investigative and Entity List actions against” people and companies looking to evade U.S. export controls, said Matthew Axelrod, BIS’ top export enforcement official.
CBP officers seized a shipment of China-bound deuterium cylinders that was exported without a license, the agency said in a statement on Oct. 31. The shipment, which was seized on Oct. 18 in Norfolk, Virginia, was worth a little more than $175,000, CBP said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week completed rounds of interagency review for two rules, including one that could make changes to a license exception in the Export Administration Regulations.
As the EU implements its new import restrictions on Russian iron and steel, European companies are starting to ask U.S. exporters whether their products contain those Russian metals, said Scott Gearity, a consultant with the Export Compliance Training Institute. Gearity said most U.S. companies shouldn’t face any legal issues in making that certification, and Bailey Reichelt, a lawyer with Aegis Trade Law, stressed that companies don’t need to include an end-use statement as part of every benign contract, a practice that could scare potential customers that don’t deal in items subject to trade controls.