The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 27 entities to the Entity List for illegally selling technology to sanctioned countries, for supporting China’s military modernization efforts or for contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs. The Entity List additions include laboratories and companies operating in the semiconductor, microelectronics and machinery sectors located in China, Japan, Pakistan and Singapore, and are partly aimed at preventing U.S. emerging technologies from being used for China's quantum computing efforts, the Commerce Department said. The agency will also add one entity to its military end-user list under Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t done enough to restrict exports of sensitive technologies to Chinese artificial intelligence companies, Republican senators said in a Nov. 15 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The senators urged BIS to “expeditiously review and then add” to the Entity List all A.I. suppliers to China’s military, including those listed in a recent report by Georgetown University. In a report last month, university researchers said very few A.I. suppliers to China face specific U.S. export controls (see 2110290018).
A bipartisan congressional commission called on the U.S. to take more aggressive steps to stop China from acquiring sensitive U.S. technologies, including through more export controls and sanctions. The recommendations, released Nov. 17 by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission as part of its annual report to Congress, could make sweeping changes to how the Commerce Department imposes certain export controls and how U.S. agencies coordinate trade restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security needs to better enforce its foreign direct product (FDP) rule, which is not adequately stopping Huawei and other Chinese companies from acquiring certain sensitive U.S.-produced technology, eight Republican senators said in a Nov. 15 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The senators said Commerce’s “lax enforcement” of the rule has encouraged other technology firms to sell to companies on the Entity List, said the lawmakers, who all serve on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a Pennsylvania-based scientific equipment manufacturer $80,000 for illegally exporting goods to Huawei and HiSilicon Technologies in 2019, according to a Nov. 8 enforcement order. The company, SP Industries, exported more than $170,000 worth of goods to the Chinese technology companies just after they were added to the Entity List (see 1905160072).
The Commerce Department should tread carefully when imposing new export controls, foreign investment restrictions and limits on standards collaboration, which may jeopardize the U.S.’s position in global information and communications technology supply chains, U.S. companies and trade groups told the agency this month. Some of those regulatory restrictions are already having chilling effects on U.S. competitiveness, they said, as foreign firms and countries can quickly fill voids in overseas markets and leadership positions in global standards bodies.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking public comments on Chinese government policies that influence international standards for emerging technologies, NIST said Nov. 3. The agency will use the comments to determine whether it can “mitigate any undue influence” by China and “bolster United States public and private sector participation in international standards-setting bodies” for a range of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum information technologies and blockchain. Comments are due 5 p.m. Dec. 6. Technology experts have warned about China’s growing leadership and influence in standards-setting bodies (see 2006240039), and industry has urged the Commerce Department to establish a blanket exemption for U.S. people and companies to participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List (see 2109150036).
The Bureau of Industry and Security added four technology companies in Israel, Russia and Singapore to the Entity List for “acting contrary” to U.S. foreign policy and national security through “malicious cyber activities,” BIS said in a notice released Nov. 3. The companies either operate or supply technologies in the cyberintelligence and information security sectors and will be subject to a license review policy of presumption of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. No license exceptions will be available for controlled exports to the four companies. The additions are effective Nov. 4.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add four entities in Israel, Russia, and Singapore to the Entity List for "malicious cyber activities" that are contrary to U.S. foreign policy and national security, BIS said in a notice. The two Israeli companies supply malicious spyware to foreign governments, and the companies in Russia and Singapore “traffic in cyber exploits” that threaten the “privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide.” BIS will impose a license review policy of presumption of denial for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The Commerce Department said the Entity List additions are part of a government-wide effort to "stem the proliferation of digital tools used for repression." The additions take effect Nov. 4.