A group of countries aligned themselves with the European Council's decision to renew for another 12 months, until Nov. 14, 2022, sanctions measures against Venezuelan officials and entities, the EC said Nov. 26 (see 2011120009). Amendments to the statement of reasons for 26 persons on their entity list also were made. The countries are North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Georgia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should clarify that certain hospitals affiliated with entries on the Entity List are not subject to Entity list restrictions, said Tory Tibor, global head of trade compliance for medical device company Olympus. Tibor said the clarification would help address confusion among third parties, including forwarders, about what types of entities are captured by Entity List controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 27 entities to the Entity List for illegally selling technology to China, North Korea and other sanctioned countries, for supporting China’s military modernization efforts or for contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programs, the agency said Nov. 24. The Entity List additions include a range of laboratories and companies operating in the semiconductor, microelectronics and machinery sectors in China, Japan, Pakistan and Singapore, including several major Chinese chip companies.
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.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Nov. 1-5 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
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.