The Bureau of Industry and Security has been experiencing delays in semiconductor-related export license applications due to a higher number of disagreements with the other agencies that also review those licenses, a senior BIS official said this week.
Four Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo a series of recommendations for strengthening firearms export controls, Warren’s office said Jan. 24.
Companies should avoid internal policies that require them to disclose all potential sanctions and export control violations to the government, lawyers with Foley Hoag said this week. Although it may seem like a sound compliance policy, the lawyers said that language can backfire, including in cases where a voluntary disclosure may not be the best option.
Companies should expect the Bureau of Industry and Security to announce new export controls this year restricting certain U.S. person activities involving military and military intelligence end uses and end users, a former BIS official said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security completed an interagency review for a proposed rule to address “significant malicious cyber-enabled activities.” The agency sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 16 (see 2308170008) and completed the review Jan. 19.
The leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight have asked the Government Accountability Office to assess the effectiveness of new export controls aimed at preventing China from obtaining advanced computing chips and the equipment to manufacture them.
The two authors of a bipartisan bill to boost U.S. technology competitiveness were lukewarm this week about the prospect of allocating more export control resources to the Commerce Department and stopped short of promising it more money, with one calling on the agency to be more efficient with what it has. And while they said they support Commerce’s updated China-related semiconductor export controls, they also said the U.S. should devote as much attention to expanding trade with close allies as it does to restricting trade with adversaries.
Michael Vaccaro is the new leader of the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, DDTC announced this week. Vaccaro, whose formal title is deputy assistant secretary for defense trade, started in the new role Jan. 16. He was most recently the principal deputy assistant secretary for industrial base policy at the Defense Department, and he also previously worked at the Bureau of Industry and Security, where he oversaw defense trade programs. Vaccaro is the first permanent head of DDTC since Mike Miller left the agency in 2022 to become the deputy director of DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (see 2212120004).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed its temporary denial order for a Venezuela-based cargo airline after saying it continues to try to violate U.S. export restrictions in "continued disregard" for the terms of the TDO. BIS said Empresa de Transporte Aereocargo del Sur, also known as Aerocargo del Sur Transportation or Emtrasur, will continue to be subject to the denial order for 180 days from Jan. 21.
Behrouz Mokhtari of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to two conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran "by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities" without getting a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ announced Jan. 9. Mokhtari will forfeit money, property and assets obtained from the schemes, including a Campbell, California, home, and a money judgment of over $2.8 million, DOJ said. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two conspiracy counts.