New proposed rules for U.S. surveillance technology exports will help protect human rights worldwide, but additional steps should be taken to ensure American-made products aren't used to commit abuses, Freedom House said last week.
Both a potential Kamala Harris and a potential Donald Trump administration are likely to continue the U.S. government’s increasing focus on sanctions and export control enforcement, even if their approaches to specific trade measures may differ, such as tariffs against China or sanctions against Russia, said Adam Smith, a Gibson Dunn lawyer.
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.
A set of new rules released last week by the Commerce and State departments will reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of U.S. trading partners and propose to transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, lowering trade barriers faced by the commercial space industry for years.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a minor correction this week to a September final rule that codified a range of recent updates to its administrative enforcement policies, including how the agency resolves voluntary self-disclosures and how it assesses penalty amounts (see 2409120017). BIS said that rule “contained an error in an amendatory instruction” that incorrectly revised wording in the wrong paragraph. “This document corrects that error,” BIS said. The changes take effect Oct. 17.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is “actively recruiting” members to join its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee, Tara Gonzalez, a BIS senior policy adviser, said on LinkedIn this week. The committee gives feedback and recommendations to BIS as the agency pursues new controls on emerging dual-use technologies. BIS formally solicited new members for its various TACs in April, and those applications were due June 11 (see 2404110005).
The U.S. will soon reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of countries and may transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to four rules released by the agencies Oct. 17. The rulemakings are designed to “modernize” U.S. export controls on space technologies, a senior Commerce official told reporters, including by easing restrictions on exports of less sensitive space technologies, certain spacecraft-related items and more.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently updated a table on its website that lists which countries are eligible for License Exception Implemented Export Controls, an exception unveiled Sept. 5 that allows exporters to ship certain quantum computing items, chip machines and other advanced technologies without a license (see 2409050028). In a final rule, BIS said it updated the table on Sept. 17 by adding Denmark, Finland and Japan “to appropriate items in the table.” It also revised the table’s URL to be “shorter and simpler” and made other minor changes. The final rule is effective Oct. 16.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a round of interagency review for a final rule that could remove export licensing requirements for certain spacecraft and related items destined to Australia, Canada and the U.K. BIS sent the rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Aug. 30 (see 2409030005), and the review was completed Oct. 10.
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