Days before the Commerce Department's temporary general license for Huawei is set to expire, the agency and Secretary Wilbur Ross declined to say whether they will extend the license, but said it has been beneficial for U.S. rural communities. Ross suggested that Commerce would like to keep it going.
The Commerce Department officially revoked export privileges for AW-Tronics, a Miami-based company also known as Arrowtronic, for violations of the Export Administration Regulations, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in a Nov. 15 notice. BIS previously revoked export privileges for Arrowtronic, manager Arash Caby and registered agent Ali Caby on Nov. 14 for illegally exporting aircraft parts to Syrian Arab Airlines (see 1911130043). BIS named AW-Tronics as part of the scheme, saying the business was referred to as the “same company” as Arrowtronic in company documents and emails, the notice said. BIS revoked export privileges for AW-Tronics for six years from Oct. 30, 2019.
The Bureau of Industry of Security corrected an October notice about export privileges denied for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, issuing the correct location of the court in which the defendant was convicted, according to a notice. Rasheed Al Jijakli (see 1910010056) was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, not the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, BIS said.
A Miami-based company, its manager and its registered agent were denied export privileges for illegally exporting goods to Syria, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in Nov. 14 notices. Arash Caby, Ali Caby and their company, Arrowtronic, violated the Export Administration Regulations by illegally exporting aircraft parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, BIS said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security updated its Entity List by adding 22 entities, updating one entry and removing three entries, BIS said. The added entities include freight forwarding and logistics companies and a medical instrument supplier.
Companies and trade groups are concerned about the consequences of the Commerce Department’s efforts to restrict sales of emerging technologies and are growing impatient with a delay that has stretched several months, stakeholders said in interviews. Nearly a year after Commerce issued advance notice that they planned to review the technologies, some companies are confused about the delay and fear the controls won’t be fully coordinated with U.S. allies, causing their customers to simply seek foreign sellers.
The Commerce Department plans to release proposed export controls on emerging technologies within the “next few weeks” and an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on foundational technologies before the end of the year, a top Commerce official said. Matt Borman, the Commerce deputy assistant secretary for export administration, suggested Commerce has been eager to release both controls to ease concerns from U.S. trade groups and companies, which have warned the agency against overly broad, unilateral controls.
A Chinese national was sentenced to 40 months in prison after trying to export military and space-related technology to China without proper licenses, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 18 press release.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is amending the Export Administration Regulations to further restrict exports and re-exports to Cuba, BIS said in a notice. The amendments change BIS licensing policies and exceptions for certain aircrafts and vessels, establish a 10 percent de minimis level for Cuba, make the Cuban government ineligible for certain donations and clarify the scope of unlicensed telecommunication items the Cuban government can receive. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs recently said it completed its review of the rule (see 1910150041)
Although Trump administration officials have expressed willingness to mediate the Japan-South Korea trade dispute, trade experts suggested the administration -- and members of Congress -- are not currently focused on intervening.