The Bureau of Industry and Security needs more help from companies to stop Russia from acquiring export controlled semiconductors and other microelectronics, Matthew Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official, said May 8 during a semiconductor summit hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The joint Commerce Department-DOJ Disruptive Technology Strike Force has helped the government pool resources to investigate and prosecute export control violations, “but even this impactful coordinated effort across government enforcement agencies is, by itself, insufficient to meet the national security moment we’re facing,” Axelrod said. “[F]rankly, we need everyone to do more.”
The Biden administration, which announced in August 2023 that it would develop restrictions on outbound investment in China (see 2308090066), expects to finalize the new regulations by the end of calendar year 2024, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said May 8.
The Bureau of Industry and Security named Eric Longnecker, former head of the agency’s Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security, the new deputy assistant secretary for technology security, he announced on LinkedIn. Longnecker, who has worked at BIS for nearly 20 years, announced his new role May 6.
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The U.S. will struggle to compete technologically with China unless it continues to loosen trade barriers around sensitive technologies for a broader range of allies outside just the U.K. and Australia, Mike Gallagher, a former member of Congress, said this week.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., announced separate legislative proposals last week that would block the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new interim final rule restricting firearms exports.
Companies should expect the U.S. to soon expand the statute of limitations for certain export control violations to align with a similar extension for sanctions violations, a law firm said.
The Census Bureau recently updated the Automated Export System to revise the types of exports to Australia and the U.K. that can be filed with License Code C33 (No License Required). The update reflects export control changes made last month by the Bureau of Industry and Security, which reduced certain licensing requirements for shipments to Australia and the U.K. as part of the AUKUS partnership (see 2404180035).
Aggressive new U.S. export controls on advanced computing chips and the equipment to manufacture them are having unintended side effects and may be causing more harm than good for Western companies, a Brussels-based think-tank said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is developing a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) to explain its new license exception authorizing certain exports of medical devices to Russia, it was revealed at an April 30 meeting of the agency’s Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC).