The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week updated its guidance and frequently asked questions for U.S. persons providing defense services abroad.

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a correction to a June final rule that introduced new export controls and expanded existing restrictions against Russia and Belarus (see 2406120036). The correction fixes a typo.

The State Department is working on a final rule that would amend restrictions against Cyprus under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 29, could build on steps the State Department has taken to relax export restrictions for certain defense goods and services involving the country (see 2309130028).

The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that could remove export licensing requirements for certain spacecraft and related items destined to Australia, Canada and the U.K. BIS sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 30.

The Netherlands won’t renew licenses that had allowed leading Dutch chip equipment maker ASML to repair and maintain certain semiconductor equipment in China, Bloomberg reported last week. Those licenses are expected to expire later this year, the report said, and had covered ASML’s advanced deep ultraviolet lithography machines. The Bureau of Industry and Security had been pushing certain allies, including the Netherlands, to stop their semiconductor companies from servicing certain advanced chip tools under pre-existing contracts with Chinese customers (see 2403270038).

The Export-Import Bank didn’t approve a new transaction involving dual-use goods in FY 2023, the Government Accountability Office reported Aug. 30. The bank continued to monitor the end-use of one transaction for the Mexican government, which involved a fixed service satellite and a mobile service satellite that became operational in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Ex-Im received all required documents from the Mexican government and determined that Mexico was in compliance with the bank’s dual-use policy.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had “extended discussions” about economics and national security, including technology export controls, in talks with senior leaders in China this week (see 2408280042), he said during an Aug. 29 press conference in Beijing.

The State Department issued a minor correction to the interim final rule it published earlier this month that finalized an exemption for defense trade between the U.S., Australia and the U.K. as part of the AUKUS arrangement (see 2408160019). The correction fixes a reference to a specific paragraph mentioned in the rule. The change takes effect Sept. 1, the same day the rest of the interim final rule takes effect.

China’s recently announced export restrictions on antimony (see 2408150022) are expected to cause supplies of the critical mineral to tighten and prices to rise sharply, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Aug. 20.

Data recently published by S&P Global shows which countries are supplying Russia with computer numerically controlled machine tools and components, which the U.S. and its allies have identified as a “common high priority” good that Russia is seeking to buy to support its military in violation of Western export controls and sanctions.