The Bureau of Industry and Security will add 26 companies and people to the Entity List after the agency said they violated U.S. export controls -- including by supplying sensitive items to China, Iran, Pakistan or Russia -- or failed to comply with U.S. end-use checks.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will soon remove Sandvine Inc., a Canada-headquartered technology software company, from the Entity List after BIS said it took “significant steps” to improve its compliance controls and stop its technology from being used for human rights breaches.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 23 will add 26 companies and people to the Entity List for trying to buy controlled U.S. items for China’s military, evade sanctions against Russia, supply sensitive goods to Iran or Pakistan, or for evading U.S. end-use checks, the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 21. BIS will also remove two entities from the list and update the address information for another entity.
China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a set of broad frequently asked questions Oct. 16 on its Unreliable Entity List, including how Beijing decides to add entities to the list, how companies may be removed and the penalties for listed companies. The ministry said it may impose fines “of a corresponding amount according to the severity of the circumstances” against companies added to the list, according to an unofficial translation.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department Oct. 16 to restrict exports of U.S.-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) to Huawei's “clandestine network” of companies.
The U.S. will probably increase its use of sanctions and export controls no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, although a Donald Trump-led administration would be more likely to pursue drastic measures that could accelerate U.S.-China decoupling, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Those measures include expanding the use of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s foreign direct product rule or placing blocking sanctions on major Chinese companies such as Huawei.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added eight companies to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the entities through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. It also removed two companies from the list after BIS said it was able to successfully conduct end-use checks.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will add eight companies in China, Germany, Pakistan and Turkey to its Unverified List, it said in a final rule released Oct. 15 and effective Oct. 16. It will also remove one company in China and one in Saudi Arabia. All export license exceptions involving the parties added to the list will be suspended, and exporters must file certain Electronic Export Information and obtain a statement from any party listed on the UVL before proceeding with certain exports.
New export compliance guidance issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security outlines the agency’s due diligence expectations for financial institutions and warns that companies that “self-blind” to red flags could face penalties.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is expanding its Validated End User program to include a new export authorization for data centers, which could allow certain preapproved data facilities to more quickly obtain advanced semiconductors and other U.S.-controlled items with artificial intelligence uses.