Chinese drone-maker DJI Technology Co. is challenging the Pentagon's designation of the firm as a Chinese military company, saying the agency applied the "wrong legal standard," mixed up individuals "with common Chinese names" and relied on "stale alleged facts and attenuated connections that fall short of demonstrating" the company is connected to the Chinese military (SZ DJI Technology Co. v. U.S., D.D.C. # 24-02970).

Both a potential Kamala Harris and a potential Donald Trump administration are likely to continue the U.S. government’s increasing focus on sanctions and export control enforcement, even if their approaches to specific trade measures may differ, such as tariffs against China or sanctions against Russia, said Adam Smith, a Gibson Dunn lawyer.

A set of new rules released last week by the Commerce and State departments will reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of U.S. trading partners and propose to transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, lowering trade barriers faced by the commercial space industry for years.

Vietnam Beverage Company Limited reached an $860,000 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control after the agency said two of the company’s subsidiaries violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea. OFAC said the subsidiaries, which produce and sell alcoholic drinks, illegally received more than $1.4 million in payments through U.S. banks for sales of alcohol to North Korea.

It’s unclear exactly how the Treasury Department will use information it receives as part of the notification requirements in its upcoming outbound investment regulations, lawyers said, warning that those notifications could present reputational and business risks for certain American investors in China, especially if members of Congress see them.

American defense firm RTX will pay close to $1 billion to resolve allegations that it tried to defraud the U.S. government and committed violations of defense export control regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ and the SEC said Oct. 16. The company agreed to enter into two deferred prosecution agreements to settle the claims, which included Raytheon’s alleged failure to report bribes in export licensing applications and its submission of false information to the U.S. as part of multiple foreign military defense contracts.

New, long-awaited EU guidelines released this week outline how exporters should identify cyber-surveillance technologies that may not yet be controlled by member states but may still be subject to bloc-wide reporting rules. The guidelines, which the European Commission had been drafting for years and was aiming to issue this month (see 2409260001 and 2303310025), also list a range of customer red flags and describe due diligence expectations for companies exporting these items, including that they screen all end-users and consignees and carry out a detailed “risk assessment” for each transaction.

The Bureau of Industry and Security appears to be making good on its pledge to step up export control enforcement to protect sensitive American technology from China, two former U.S. government officials said Oct. 15.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added eight companies to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. It also removed two companies from the list after BIS said it was able to successfully conduct end-use checks.

The U.S. will probably increase its use of sanctions and export controls no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, although a Donald Trump-led administration would be more likely to pursue drastic measures that could accelerate U.S.-China decoupling, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Those measures include expanding the use of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s foreign direct product rule or placing blocking sanctions on major Chinese companies such as Huawei.