The Bureau of Industry and Security is again considering a rule that would make changes to its Strategic Trade Authorization license exception. The proposed rule, which was sent for interagency review June 13, would clarify the availability and expand restrictions on the availability of license exception STA under the Export Administration Regulations. BIS sent the rule for review last year but eventually withdrew it to conduct “further informal interagency consultation” (see 2011130008). STA authorizes certain exports, reexports and transfers of software source code and technology to foreign nationals in lieu of a license that would normally be required.

While the Biden administration has made clear its intentions to pursue stronger export controls over advanced semiconductor-related equipment, companies should also be prepared to see potential export controls over a range of other sectors that the U.S. deems to be too reliant on China, Baker McKenzie trade lawyer Kerry Contini said. Contini, speaking during a July 14 Baker McKenzie conference, pointed specifically to President Joe Biden’s February executive order to address supply chain issues (see 2102240068), which mentions the medical and agricultural sectors as well as the chip industry.

Torres Law issued a July 3 guide on the common company changes that require notifications to the State Department’s Director of Defense Trade Controls to comply with International Traffic in Arms Regulations’ registration requirements. The guide provides a checklist companies can review when they are undergoing a “material change” covered under the ITAR, including preparing a material change notification letter and updating information in the Defense Export Control Compliance System.

The Bureau of Industry and Security's decision to add five more Chinese companies to the Entity List (see 2106230004) is part of a “government-wide effort” under the Biden administration to take “strong action” against China’s human rights violations against Muslim minority groups, the Commerce Department said June 24. The move, which increased the total number of parties “implicated” by the U.S. in Xinjiang human rights abuses to 53, will restrict their ability to access commodities, software and technology subject to the Export Administration Regulations, Commerce said. “As we made clear during this month’s G7 summit, the United States is committed to employing all of its tools, including export controls, to ensure that global supply chains are free from the use of forced labor and technology is not misused to abuse human rights,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “The Commerce Department will continue to take firm, decisive action to hold China and other perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable.”

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began a review of a final Bureau of Industry and Security rule that would control certain types of deuterium under the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, received by OIRA June 16, will control deuterium that is intended for use “other than in a nuclear reactor or nuclear facility.” BIS mentioned the rule in its spring regulatory agenda, saying it is meant to transfer licensing jurisdiction over exports of certain deuterium from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to BIS (see 2106140034).

Congress may want to “evaluate” the Commerce Department's efforts to place export controls on emerging and foundational technologies and should consider pursuing reforms surrounding multilateral export regimes, the Congressional Research Service said in an updated report on export controls issued this month.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency published its latest exemptions for exports of certain medical equipment June 14 in a notice in the Federal Register but did not give an effective date. Those changes took effect May 19, a FEMA spokesperson said in an email. “The policy around [the exemptions] was evaluated and changed in May,” the FEMA spokesperson said in a June 16 email. The changes exempted four categories of personal protective equipment from export restrictions (see 2105200065).

Exporters looking to comply with U.S. Entity List restrictions should pay close attention to foreign companies affected by a CBP withhold release order, which could later lead to U.S. export restrictions, said Sylvia Costelloe, a trade lawyer with Arent Fox. Costelloe said at least two companies were subject to a WRO and later added to the Entity List, including China-based Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories (see 2005010040 and 2007200026). “What this indicates here in this space is that there might actually be some cooperation or some collaboration between CBP and Commerce,” Costelloe said during a June 16 Arent Fox webinar. While she said CBP doesn’t sit on the End-User Review Committee, which decides which entities to add and remove from the Entity List, Commerce still “might be looking to CBP when deciding whether or not to add certain entities to the Entity List.” Commerce didn’t immediately comment.

Dan Ikenson, who spent decades in trade policy at the libertarian Cato Institute, said he defended China's behavior for years after it joined the World Trade Organization. "I was in favor of welcoming China into the trading system," he said. But now, Ikenson said during a June 9 webinar hosted by the R Street Institute, he has come to see that China's last 15 years of state-directed capitalism produced enormous externalities. He said some of those externalities include the rise of populism, the political rejection of free trade, and even, in part, the presidency of Donald Trump.

3M, a U.S. producer of aluminum oxide fibers, announced that its “Nextel 312 ceramic fibers and textiles” were removed from export control license requirements due to a Commerce Department final rule published in March (see 2103260019). The rule made several revisions to the agency’s Commerce Control List to implement changes made during the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement and removed license requirements for a range of Nextel 312 products, including Nextel 312 “fibers, rovings, yarns, sewing threads, tapes, sleevings, and fabrics,” 3M said June 2. The products are “now available globally,” the company said, “reducing previous barriers that slowed down global customer adoption.”