The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments to help inform the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council's Secure Supply Chains Working Group. BIS said it’s specifically seeking feedback on how to “advance supply chain resilience and security in key sectors,” including semiconductors, solar photovoltaics, critical minerals and materials and pharmaceuticals. The agency is “particularly interested” in comments from foreign and domestic entities that “actively participate” in supply chains involving semiconductors, solar photovoltaics, critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. Comments are due May 23.
If the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new undersecretary doesn’t quickly prove he can make progress on export controls for foundational technologies, Congress should consider moving the authority to a different agency, said Derek Scissors, a China economics expert with the American Enterprise Institute. Although lawmakers have previously threatened to revoke BIS’s authority under the Export Control Reform Act (see 2111170064 and 2110250035), Scissors said they should wait to first hear whether newly confirmed undersecretary Alan Estevez has a plan to speed up the agency, which has been criticized for moving too slowly on the controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is extending by 30 days the comment period for an information collection involving the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations and the CWC’s declaration, report handbook and forms. The collection describes the purpose of the CWC and U.S. reporting obligations. Comments, originally due March 14, are now due May 5 (see 2201110021).
After the Bureau of Industry and Security added 120 entities to its Entity List last week for supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries (see 2204010080), senior BIS official Thea Kendler said the U.S. won’t “hesitate” to impose more export restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection for the agency’s surveys and assessments of U.S. industrial sectors and technologies. The survey data provides "needed information to benchmark industry performance and raise awareness of diminishing manufacturing capabilities,” BIS said. Comments are due June 3.
The Senate confirmed Alan Estevez to be the next undersecretary of the Bureau of Industry and Security March 31, marking the end of a monthslong nomination process and giving BIS its first confirmed leader in more than five years (see 2104070026 and 2107130004). Estevez will take over BIS at a critical time for the agency, which in recent weeks has been tasked with crafting and implementing hundreds of pages of new export control regulations to penalize Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week revoked export privileges for five people after they illegally exported defense items or weapons ammunition.
The new export working group for CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee hopes to make progress on launching electronic export manifest, calling it “one of our primary areas of focus.” Working group member David Corn, executive vice president for Comstock & Theakston, said the group hopes to eventually launch EEM for “all transportation modes.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 120 entities to its Entity List for supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries, the agency said in a final rule. The additions include military end-users in Russia and Belarus, along with others that have tried to send export-controlled items to Russia’s military, BIS said. The parties will be subject to a “highly restrictive” policy of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, the agency said, and no license exceptions will be available. The additions, which will be published in the Federal Register April 7, take effect April 1.
U.S. export controls against Russia have proven to be effective more quickly than expected, said Thea Kendler, the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export administration. While the U.S. restrictions have hit key Russian industrial and defense inputs, Kendler said a major reason behind their success has been the substantial buy-in from allies in Europe and Asia.