The Bureau of Industry and Security reached a $1.5 million settlement this week with an international procurement company after its Shanghai affiliate admitted to illegally transferring low-level semiconductor equipment to a Chinese company on the Entity List.
The Federal Maritime Commission ordered MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company to pay about $22.7 million in civil penalties for violating U.S. shipping laws, up from the $16 million amount that an administrative law judge called for last year (see 2502260072).
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that would make export control changes related to Cambodia. The rule, titled Conforming Change to the Export Administration Regulations for Cambodia, was sent for review Jan. 6.
The U.S.-China trade relationship will experience a relatively stable year in 2026 as both sides determine their next steps amid an export control stalemate, Eurasia Group analysts predicted this week.
Charles Wall, who most recently held senior roles at the Bureau of Industry and Security in Washington, announced that he's beginning a new role as a BIS export control officer in Beijing. Wall will carry out end-use checks in China and work within the U.S. embassy "to provide information and support on all export control issues that arise in the embassy community, as well as with local industry, the host government, and other governments working in Beijing," according to his LinkedIn profile. Wall was most recently the acting director of the BIS Office of Nonproliferation and Foreign Policy Controls and a senior policy adviser, and he also worked as a regional export control officer from the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong and Macau, 2011-16.
The Census Bureau alerted exporters this week about changes to Automated Export System codes that were previously used for certain validated end users, noting that the updates reflect an August rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security that removed China-based facilities as VEUs.
House and Senate negotiators unveiled a compromise FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill Jan. 5 that would provide $235 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $44 million, or 23%, from the FY 2025 enacted level.
John Austerman has left his role as a division chief with the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to join defense technology company Shield AI as its director of global export strategy, he announced on LinkedIn. Austerman worked as a division chief since October 2024 and previously worked at the Pentagon (see 2410040046).
The Trump administration plans to convene early next year to try to better organize its approach to AI diffusion and export controls over AI semiconductors, said Paul Triolo, the technology policy lead at advisory firm Albright Stonebridge Group.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has withdrawn a final rule from interagency review that was set to make "revisions" to the Export Administration Regulations for "certain rare earth minerals and strategic metals." The agency sent the rule for interagency review July 10 and it was withdrawn Dec. 22.