President Donald Trump has nominated Jeffrey Kessler to be the Bureau of Industry and Security undersecretary, according to the Feb. 3 edition of the Congressional Record. If confirmed, Kessler would replace Biden administration official Alan Estevez in overseeing BIS. The White House didn't respond to a request for more information on Kessler, who is a Washington trade lawyer who was assistant secretary of commerce for enforcement and compliance during Trump's first term. Kessler didn't respond to a request for comment.
U.S. export controls are increasingly trending toward unilateral, extraterritorial restrictions as opposed to multilateral ones, and that could continue under the administration of President Donald Trump, said Jeannette Chu, vice president for national security policy at the National Foreign Trade Council.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week modified its temporary denial order against Russian airline Azur Air to update the airline’s address. The order now lists Azur Air as located in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. It was previously listed with a Moscow address. BIS last renewed the order for one year in September, barring the airline from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (see 2409200059).
President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the federal workforce are unlikely to target the Bureau of Industry and Security, which is already dealing with employee shortages as it carries out U.S. export control policy, a former senior BIS official said.
Companies should consider carrying out extra due diligence when vetting customers that could have connections to address-only listings on the Entity List, a trade lawyer and former Bureau of Industry and Security official said.
The Census Bureau added five new license codes in the Automated Export System to reflect the Bureau of Industry and Security's recent export controls on advanced computing chips (see 2501130026), Census said in emails to industry this week.
The new artificial intelligence export control framework introduced by the U.S. earlier this month could create diplomatic issues with Europe and force some European nations to diversify away from U.S. chips, a former U.S. official and a European policy researcher said this week.
The U.S. should prevent China from obtaining American technology it can use to advance its artificial intelligence capabilities, Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said Jan. 29.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said Jan. 28 that the U.S. should place stronger export controls on technologies critical to the infrastructure of an advanced new Chinese artificial intelligence model.
President Donald Trump last week revoked the Biden administration’s 2023 executive order on artificial intelligence, which could have ramifications for recent AI-related export controls issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security.