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 appears to be making good on its pledge to step up export control enforcement to protect sensitive American technology from China, two former U.S. government officials said Oct. 15.
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 last week completed rounds of interagency review for two rules that could revise its space-related controls.
A DOJ indictment unsealed this week charges three Russians with export control violations after the agency said they illegally bought more than $225,000 worth of U.S. microelectronics, hiding from American exporters that the items were destined for the Russian military.
Representatives from the U.S., Singapore, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates convened this week with Maldivian officials in the Maldives to discuss export controls and other trade issues during the inaugural Maldives Strategic Trade Management Forum.
U.S. semiconductor export controls on China lack a clear “endgame,” said Michael Mazarr, a senior political scientist with the RAND think tank. He said the controls are a “perfect example” of a U.S. policy approach that embraces “competition for its own sake and rushing down blind alleys without a clear sense of where policy will lead.”
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.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security this week published the second quarterly update of its new boycott requester list, a list of entities that have asked other companies to boycott goods from certain countries in violation of the Export Administration Regulations.