Electronics distribution company Broad Tech System and its president and owner, Tao Jiang of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to participating in a conspiracy to illegally ship chemicals made or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island announced. Jiang and Broad Tech admitted to violating the Export Control Act and conspiring to commit money laundering.
Ilya Kahn, a citizen of the U.S., Russia and Israel, was arrested on Jan. 17 for allegedly aiding a scheme to illicitly ship sensitive technology from the U.S. to a sanctioned Russian business, DOJ announced. Kahn was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said Jan. 18 that he remains committed to passing two China-related investment measures that failed to become law last year.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is renewing a push to pass a bipartisan bill that could expand the Treasury Department’s upcoming outbound investment prohibitions to cover more Chinese technology sectors and additional countries. But some lawmakers disagree on the best way to scope U.S. investment restrictions under the bill, arguing that they should be imposed through individual sanctions on specific entities rather than on whole technology industries.
The Bureau of Industry and Security believes its export controls are adequate to protect all 19 of the critical and emerging technology categories identified by the White House as important to national security (see 2202090016), a BIS official said on Jan. 17.
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The U.S. is likely to continue using export controls, investment restrictions and other economic policy tools against China this year, particularly as the upcoming presidential election draws closer, trade and economic policy experts said this week.
The House Select Committee on China has sent letters to the chief executives of U.S. chipmakers Intel, Nvidia and Micron Technology asking them to testify before the panel about the challenges their industry faces, a person close to the committee said Jan. 12, confirming a Financial Times report. A hearing date has not yet been determined, the person said.
A new U.S. executive order significantly raises Russia-related compliance risks for foreign banks that may have thought they weren’t subject to U.S. sanctions authorities, law firms said this month. The order also could lead to new risks for U.S. businesses, the firms said, which may need to conduct more due diligence on any foreign financial institutions with ties to their supply chains.
The Commerce Department plans to announce a “department-wide” strategy in the “weeks ahead” that will address its major priorities in national security, Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves said on Jan. 9.