U.S. export control efforts -- along with enforcement risks for companies -- will continue to rise no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, said Matthew Axelrod, the lead export enforcement official at the Bureau of Industry and Security.

A new proposed rule from the Census Bureau could change how the agency regulates in-transit shipments that travel through the U.S. from foreign countries before being exported to another foreign destination.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is imposing export controls on nine “key” precursors that Russia has used in chemical weapons against Ukraine, the agency said in a final rule that becomes effective Nov. 1. The rule also updates certain language in BIS regulations that it said will reduce the “licensing burden” for certain government entities located in Russia and Belarus, and it clarifies the scope of the agency's foreign direct product rules.

The U.S. this week unveiled new trade and financial restrictions against people and companies across more than 17 countries for helping Russia evade sanctions or for supporting the country’s military, adding nearly 400 to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and more than 40 to the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Another move by Commerce will tighten existing controls on nearly 50 entities that it said are procuring U.S.-branded microelectronics for Russia.

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The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways -- along with other entities and people tied to the Iranian airline -- after discovering a Taiwan-based company recently used the airline to send export-controlled parts to Russia.

Western nations imposing export controls against Russia should shift their focus away from microchips and instead prioritize the key raw materials and machine tools that Moscow needs for its artillery, according to a report this month from the U.K-based Royal United Services Institute and Open Source Centre. The report calls for more enforcement against Chinese machine tool suppliers and new, “strict sanctions” against companies shipping materials like chrome ore that Russia uses for its weapons.

The EU will officially impose countervailing duties on electric vehicle imports from China (see 2408200020) despite months of lobbying from Beijing against the new tariffs (see 2410250015), which are meant to address EU concerns around Chinese EV subsidies. The new duties will remain in place for five years and will take effect the day after they’re published in the Official Journal of the EU, expected to be this week.

The Treasury Department's new outbound investment rules will officially take effect Jan. 2, creating new prohibitions and notification requirements to limit certain U.S. business activities in China’s semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum sectors. The 297-page final rule, released in pre-publication form Oct. 28, adopts many of Treasury’s proposed regulations issued in June (see 2406210034) with a host of notable tweaks and clarifications, including a more detailed description for the rules’ AI investment threshold and insight into the agency’s due diligence expectations for U.S. companies.

A State Department proposal to revise the definition of defense services could cover an overly broad set of activities and likely exacerbate the already lengthy processing times for commodity jurisdiction requests and export license applications, defense industry groups and firms said in public comments to the agency released last week.