The State Department this week announced penalties on one person and four entities and their subsidiaries for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The agency in a notice said the parties transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The State Department barred them from making certain purchases of items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act and will suspend any current export licenses. The agency also will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The restrictions will remain in place for two years from the Jan. 22 effective date.
Liz Cannon, head of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services, is expected to resign from the agency after being pushed to leave by the Trump administration, two people familiar with the matter said. Cannon was told she would be reassigned to another position if she didn't leave, the people said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls saw a sharp uptick in the number of end-use checks in FY 2024 compared with the previous year and spent more than double the amount of money carrying out those end-use checks, according to its annual Blue Lantern report, released last week. The report, which details the agency’s end-use monitoring efforts on export-controlled defense articles and services, said there was a surge in defense trade last year, leading to an increase in the number of exports needing end-use checks.
The European Commission on Jan. 22 added several new FAQs to its sanctions guidance covering Russia-related service restrictions, including how those restrictions apply to advanced technology services such as AI, commercial space activities, tourism and travel, and more.
Companies that are still waiting for export licensing decisions amid delays at the Bureau of Industry and Security should remain persistent and leverage whatever connections they have -- either through trade organizations or political avenues -- to try to get their application moving, industry officials said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is easing certain license requirements to allow for easier exports of less sensitive drones to most Wassenaar Arrangement member states and exports of “more capable” drones to a group of close U.S. allies.
Members responding to the American Chamber of Commerce in China's 2026 business survey cited slower customs clearances, export licenses and related approvals, and import and export controls as the non-tariff barriers they have most frequently faced over the past year, and more than half said their "operational and investment decisions" have been "significantly impacted" by export controls.
Although the Trump administration plans to allow Nvidia H200 chips to be exported to China, a White House official stressed last week that those exports will be closely scrutinized and that the U.S. will continue to restrict exports of the most leading-edge American chips and technology. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, also said he doesn’t believe the Bureau of Industry and Security needs any additional authorities from Congress to boost its export control implementation or enforcement powers.
British companies are still seeing significant post-Brexit trade delays and disruptions when moving goods to and from the EU, including steel products, jets, autos, agricultural goods and more, U.K. industry officials told the country’s Parliament this week. They urged the U.K. government to resolve a range of customs issues with the EU and negotiate carve-outs from upcoming EU tariffs, especially as they said the U.K.’s trade relationship with the U.S. grows more unpredictable.
The U.S. is planning to impose a 25% tariff on imports of certain advanced chips that are then exported elsewhere, the White House said Jan. 14.