Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week, in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A Texas-based industrial equipment supplier and its former CEO were fined millions of dollars for intentionally violating sanctions and export control laws, but the U.S. declined to prosecute its parent company after the firm voluntarily disclosed the violations and cooperated closely with DOJ’s investigation.
David Peters, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement (see 2504300061), said June 12 that he would “aggressively” enforce U.S. export controls to ensure sensitive American technology doesn’t end up in the hands of adversaries.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should consider working with companies to help them carry out extra due diligence for certain chip exports and should introduce a notification requirement for exports of advanced AI chips, researchers said in a new report last week. Those and other recommendations could help BIS better prevent illegal chip smuggling, they said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking public comments on an information collection for the agency’s surveys and assessments of U.S. industrial sectors and technologies. The survey data provides "needed information to benchmark industry performance and raise awareness of diminishing manufacturing capabilities,” BIS said in a Federal Register notice. Comments are due Aug. 12.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, which is seeking a major budget increase in FY 2026 (see 2505020030), would use the funding boost to add hundreds of employees to enhance its compliance and enforcement capabilities, agency head Jeffrey Kessler said June 12.
The Commerce Department is still waiting to issue its long-awaited proposed rule on routed exports despite making progress on the effort in recent months, said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations at the Census Bureau.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s lack of an official replacement regulation for the Biden-era AI diffusion rule is causing significant uncertainty for companies working in the semiconductor sector, industry officials said this week. Although BIS has said it doesn’t plan to enforce the rule, at least one consultant said she’s not yet comfortable advising clients to ignore those restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is still discussing how it wants to craft its replacement to the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, an agency official said, as well as preparing to finalize recent rules that reduced licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items and proposed to simplify the License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization. The official also said the Trump administration is considering tweaks to export licensing, acknowledging that applications are taking longer than usual.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has officially appointed Joe Bartlett, former legislative affairs director, to be the agency's new deputy undersecretary, according to his LinkedIn page and the BIS website. Bartlett's previous role was filled by Madison Hardimon, a former congressional staffer, who joined BIS last month. The announcements come more than a month after James Rockas, former BIS deputy undersecretary, left the agency (see 2504290004).