The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued an editorial correction for a Russia-related entry on the Entity List. The change fixes the entry for Kaliningradnefteprodukt OOO.
Jonathan Yet Wing Soong, former employee at Universities Space Research Association, was charged with violating export control laws by shipping sensitive aeronautics software to a university in Beijing, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced. Soong, of San Jose, is charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and and one count of smuggling, which, respectively, carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's upcoming shift in its administrative enforcement policies could signal a more aggressive posture toward cracking down on illegal exports and may change how companies voluntarily disclose violations, a former BIS agent said. But some lawyers say the policies could represent a minor shift, and it may be too early to tell how they will affect compliance decisions.
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The U.S. and the EU this week plan to announce a range of new initiatives through the Trade and Technology Council, including more collaboration on export controls and additional efforts to secure semiconductor supply chains, a senior administration official said. The official, speaking to reporters May 13 ahead of the TTC's second meeting May 15-16 in Paris, said the two sides will “deepen the partnership and announce a number of key outcomes.”
Companies should expect the Commerce Department to add more entities to the Entity List for aiding Russia amid its war in Ukraine, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration. Commerce has so far added more than 100 entities to the list for supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries (see 2204040006). Kendler, speaking during a May 12 Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said the agency is looking at entities in both Russia and Belarus "that may be contributing to the military industrial complex."
The U.S. and EU should use the upcoming Trade and Technology Council meeting to further harmonize their export controls and strengthen cooperation in semiconductor supply chains, the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU) said in May 10 recommendations. While government officials have said the two sides have already surpassed some of the TTC’s short-term goals (see 2204130045), the chamber said it can still make progress outlining “clear deliverables” and better defining the scope of the council’s working groups.
Adding sanctions on Chinese surveillance company Hikvision would represent a “profound escalation” of U.S.-China technology tensions, prompt retaliation from China and further accelerate economic decoupling, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said May 6. The sanctions, reportedly under consideration by the Biden administration (see 2205040009), could “vault Hikvision past Huawei to become the most-sanctioned Chinese tech company,” the think tank said.
The U.S.-China competition will be the “geopolitical challenge for this generation,” Cordell Hull, principal at WestExec Advisors, told an online symposium May 5 on Indo-Pacific geopolitics hosted jointly by the Asia programs of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and the Wilson Center. “I certainly hope it can be managed,” and that it “doesn’t lead us into places where neither country really wants to go,” he said.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security is leaning toward new export controls on brain computer interface technologies despite urging from industry to avoid the restrictions altogether. Thea Kendler, BIS assistant secretary for export administration, said BCI technology has too many potential “nefarious” uses to not be subject to at least some restrictions.