Nazak Nikakhtar is no longer the acting Commerce Department undersecretary for industry and security, a position she held as she awaited confirmation from the Senate, a Commerce spokesperson said. Nikakhtar is no longer performing that duty and is now focused solely on her role as assistant secretary for industry and analysis. Her nomination has not yet been officially withdrawn.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is an agency within the Commerce Department responsible for overseeing dual-use export controls outlined within the Export Administration Regulations. BIS says its mission is to protect strategic U.S. industries and prevent illegal transfers of sensitive American technology.
Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued a guidance on Aug. 20 about the disclosure of technology or software subject to export controls “between and among members of standards setting or development groups or bodies.” BIS said it issued the guidance after receiving “a number of questions” about the temporary general license for Huawei and the Chinese company’s addition to the Entity List. The guidance tries to clarify which activities are prohibited among standards organizations when discussing Huawei and its Entity Listing.
Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for four people after they exported guns, ammunition and other defense-related items from the U.S. to Lebanon, BIS said Aug. 13. The four people -- Ali Afif Al Herz, Sarah Majid Zeaiter, Adam Al Herz and Bassem Afif Herz -- were convicted in 2016 of violating the Arms Export Control Act by exporting items on the U.S. Munitions List without State Department licenses. Each was sentenced to prison and placed on the State Department’s Debarred List.
Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 19 renewed the temporary general license for Huawei and added 46 more of the company’s non-U.S. affiliates to the Entity List, bringing the total number of impacted Huawei affiliates to more than 100.
The Bureau of Industry and Security renewed the temporary general license for Huawei and added 46 more of Huawei’s non-U.S. affiliates to the Entity List. The changes, which take effect Aug. 19, extend the general license’s expiration date from Aug. 19 to Nov. 18 and make several other technical changes to entries on the Entity List, including adding new aliases and addresses.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on the impact that proposed additions to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) will have on U.S. industries and commerce, according to a notice in the Federal Register. BIS is seeking comments about the additions to Schedule 1 in the “Annex on Chemicals” in the CWC that were implemented through the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act and the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations. BIS said it wants to assess the impact on U.S. chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies of the five “chemical families” being added to the annex. Comments are due Sept. 13.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security made several changes to its Entity List, adding, removing and modifying entries for companies in China, Canada, Malaysia, Russia, The United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and more. The changes add 17 entities to the list, modify 23 existing entries for China, Hong Kong and Russia, and remove three entities located in China and the UAE, BIS said in a notice. The changes take effect Aug. 14.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee appears to be among the advisory committees that aren't eligible for elimination under a recent executive order. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June that directed all federal departments and agencies to eliminate one-third of their current Federal Advisory Committee Act-authorized committees by Sept. 30 (see 1906170021). Committees authorized by statute aren't eligible for elimination and, according to a search on the FACA database, there are 22 trade-focused committees that are required by statute.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Aug. 6 issued a set of Venezuela-related frequently asked questions, amended 12 general licenses, created 13 new general licenses and released a Venezuela sanctions guidance detailing which types of transactions are authorized between U.S. companies and Venezuela. The moves were in coordination with President Donald Trump’s Aug. 5 executive order that expanded certain sanctions on Venezuela.
The Commerce Department’s presumption of denial for Huawei-related export licenses may no longer apply, Akin Gump lawyers said during a July 18 webinar.