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.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is revising its trade regulations to add and remove items from the U.S. Munitions List and to clarify the control scope of others. The changes, outlined in an interim final rule released Jan. 16 and effective Sept. 15, include new defense articles that DDTC said should be subject to export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and delete others “that no longer warrant inclusion” or that will soon become subject to the Commerce Department’s licensing jurisdiction.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is placing new export controls on certain laboratory equipment that can be used for biotechnology purposes that may threaten U.S. national security, the agency said in an interim final rule released this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced another set of changes to its semiconductor-related export controls Jan. 15, creating new lists of trusted chip designers and service providers, introducing new reporting requirements for certain higher-risk customers and making a host of other revisions, clarifications and updates to its existing restrictions, including its latest advanced AI chip controls released earlier this week.
A new Bureau of Industry and Security rule that will place new, worldwide export controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence model weights was widely panned by the American semiconductor and technology industry this week, even as U.S. officials said the restrictions are necessary to keep American companies ahead of their Chinese competitors.
The State Department’s recently published fall 2024 regulatory agenda previews a range of export control rules the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is hoping to issue this year, including one that would finalize an updated definition for defense services and others that would make various changes to the U.S. Munitions List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 31 suspended the export privileges of four people after they were convicted of export-related offenses, including illegal shipments involving guns, ammunition and Iranian oil. The suspensions took effect from the date of their convictions.
Space industry associations and companies largely welcomed a recent State Department proposal to modernize U.S. space-related export controls, although they asked for several clarifications, fewer export control guardrails and an extended timeline to allow space firms to update their compliance programs.
The Commerce Department’s fall 2024 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security features a host of new rules that could soon update U.S. export controls, including restrictions on aircraft engines, biological equipment and reporting requirements for certain weapons sales, AI chips.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is placing new export controls on certain toxins, chemicals and other items that can be used to make bioweapons as part of a final rule to align its restrictions with allies'.