The U.S. announced a host of new sanctions and export controls, including two new additions to the Entity List, to further penalize Russia and Belarus for the invasion of Ukraine. The measures place new restrictions on technology and software exports to Belarus, export controls on shipments of oil and gas extraction equipment to Russia, blocking sanctions on 22 Russian defense entities and a prohibition on Russian cargo planes flying to and from the U.S.
The White House today announced a series of additional sanctions and export controls targeting Russia and Belarus for the invasion of Ukraine, including new restrictions on technology and software exports to Belarus, export controls on shipments of oil and gas extraction equipment to Russia, blocking sanctions on 22 Russian defense entities and a prohibition on Russian cargo planes flying to and from the U.S. Commerce will also add more entities to its Entity List that support Russian and Belarusian security services and defense efforts.
The U.S. is imposing additional sanctions and new export controls following Russia's "further invasion of Ukraine," as promised by President Biden in his Feb. 22 speech (see 2202220003). The sanctions cover financial restrictions on Russian state-owned enterprises, banks, and individuals, while the export controls set restrictions on a variety of high-tech products. The new measures are part of an "unprecedented level of multilateral cooperation" according to the White House.
The Commerce and Treasury Departments announced a raft of new export controls and sanctions measures against Russia in press releases issued Feb. 24 following White House remarks by President Joe Biden. The measures include export control license requirements for a broad swath of the Commerce Control List, and the expansion of sanctions, including to entities in Belarus. The Bureau of Industry and Security also released a final rule on the export control changes, which take effect Feb. 24.
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Although the U.S should take steps to punish Chinese cyber hackers through sanctions and export controls, it shouldn't expect those tools to slow China’s cyber hacking capabilities, experts told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. They said the U.S. should use sanctions in conjunction with other defensive tools to make it harder for China to carry out hacking.
The Commerce Department should add more Chinese companies to the Entity List, better restrict China’s government organizations and target the country with unilateral controls when appropriate, China Tech Threat said this week. The organization, which is run by Strand Consult and advocates for stronger export controls on China, said Commerce should add China semiconductor companies Yangtze Memory Technologies and Changxin Memory Technologies to the Entity List and tailor export controls to better target Chinese “pseudo-government organizations.” Commerce should also “prioritize” unilateral controls on American semiconductor manufacturing equipment by employing a “control-now-cooperate-later” approach, China Tech Threat said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added seven entities to the Entity List for nuclear and nonproliferation reasons, including one company in China, five in Pakistan and one in the United Arab Emirates, BIS said. The additions take effect Feb. 14.
Q4 revenue at China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, jumped 61.1% year over year to $1.58 billion, and its quarterly profit was $552.8 million, increasing 212.7% from Q4 2020, despite being added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List in December 2020 (see 2012180039), the company reported Feb. 10. It was an “exceptional year in SMIC's development history,” it said. The global shortage of chips and the strong demand for “local and indigenous manufacturing” brought SMIC “a rare opportunity,” while the U.S. export restrictions of the entity list “set many obstacles to the Company's development,” it said. “Focusing on the primary task of ensuring operation continuity, meeting customer demand, and alleviating the supply chain shortage, the Company rose to the challenge, tackled difficulties precisely and achieved sound performance.”
The Commerce Department should expand an exemption to allow U.S. companies to participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List (see 2006160035), the Information Technology Industry Council said in a set of recommendations to the Biden administration. If the exemption isn’t expanded, the U.S. will risk ceding further “ground, influence, and leadership to foreign competitors” in international technology standards development, ITI said Feb. 10.