Future Commerce Department export controls on artificial intelligence could end up blunting AI technology development in the U.S., according to an Aug. 8 post from Lowenstein Sandler.
One of the top concerns of the U.S. firearms industry is the delay in transitioning export controls of firearms and ammunition from the State Department to the Commerce Department, said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. As the wait for Export Control Reform has increased -- beginning in 2009 under the Obama administration and continuing under the Trump administration -- the U.S. firearms industry increasingly feels as if it has been left behind, Keane said.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the impact that proposed additions to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will have on U.S. industries and commerce, according to a notice in the Federal Register. BIS is seeking comments about the additions to Schedule 1 in the “Annex on Chemicals” in the CWC that were implemented through the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act and the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations. BIS said it wants to assess the impact on U.S. chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies of the five “chemical families” being added to the annex. Comments are due Sept. 13.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes to its Entity List, adding, removing and modifying entries for companies in China, Canada, Malaysia, Russia, The United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and more. The changes add 17 entities to the list, modify 23 existing entries for China, Hong Kong and Russia, and remove three entities located in China and the UAE, BIS said in a notice. The changes take effect Aug. 14.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee appears to be among the advisory committees that aren't eligible for elimination under a recent executive order. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June that directed all federal departments and agencies to eliminate one-third of their current Federal Advisory Committee Act-authorized committees by Sept. 30 (see 1906170021). Committees authorized by statute aren't eligible for elimination and, according to a search on the FACA database, there are 22 trade-focused committees that are required by statute.
The White House is delaying decisions on Huawei export licenses after China announced it was suspending purchases of U.S. agricultural products, Bloomberg reported Aug. 8. President Donald Trump announced in June that the U.S. planned to loosen restrictions on Huawei, but that promise was contingent on China increasing U.S. agricultural purchases, Bloomberg said. In an Aug. 1 tweet, Trump said China is not buying enough agricultural goods and announced a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.
The Japan-South Korea trade dispute may impact the U.S. and potentially require the intervention of U.S. export control officials, experts said during an Aug. 7 Heritage Foundation panel discussion. They also said it will be difficult for South Korea to get back on Japan’s so-called “whitelist” of preferential trading partners, a move that could hurt Japanese companies more than any other party.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security denied a man export privileges after he was convicted of illegally exporting a “barrel and breech casing” for a Glock carbine pistol to Latvia, Commerce said Aug. 5. Michael Shapovalov, who was sentenced to 34 months in prison after his May 2018 conviction for violating the Arms Export Control Act, is banned from exporting from the U.S. until May 23, 2025.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security denied a man export privileges after he was convicted in August 2018 of helping to illegally export about 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, Commerce said Aug. 5. Juan Jesus De La Rosa was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release for aiding and abetting the export and trying to export the ammunition, which were designated as defense items on the U.S. Munitions List and required a State Department license. De La Rosa is banned from exporting from the U.S. until Aug. 28, 2028.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security denied a woman export privileges after she was convicted of illegally exporting space communication technology from the U.S. to Hong Kong in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Commerce said Aug. 5. Si Chen was convicted in October 2018 and sentenced to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release. She is banned from exporting items from the U.S. until Oct. 10, 2028, Commerce said.