The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a California semiconductor developer and supplier $4.25 million for violating U.S. export controls against Huawei, saying it illegally forwarded more than 1,500 power controllers, smart power stages and related accessories to the Chinese company without a license.
Companies could see a significant uptick in compliance responsibilities if the Bureau of Industry and Security follows through with a possible 50% rule for parties on the Entity List, although it’s unclear when exactly such a rule could take effect, former BIS officials said this week.
President Donald Trump on June 30 signed an executive order to remove certain financial sanctions against Syria and authorize the "relaxation" of export controls against the country, part of broader effort to support Syria's "path to stability and peace," the White House said.
The State Department this week announced new export restrictions against Sudan after determining earlier this year that the Sudanese government used chemical weapons in 2024 and isn't in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (see 2505230007). The agency’s notice, effective June 27, establishes new prohibitions but also waives some of the new export restrictions for Sudan under certain scenarios. The measures will be in place for at least one year “and until further notice.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week officially released its enforcement order, charging letter and settlement agreement involving Unicat Catalyst Technologies, the Texas-based industrial equipment supplier that recently was assessed millions of dollars in combined penalties by BIS, DOJ and the Office of Foreign Assets Control for allegedly violating export control and sanctions laws (see 2506170047).
As the Bureau of Industry and Security asks for more funding from Congress to improve its enforcement and technological capabilities, the agency could benefit from more information about controlled exports leaving third countries, said Matt Borman, a former senior BIS official. He also stressed the importance of the U.S. carefully calibrating any new export controls, and said its current semiconductors restrictions have successfully slowed China from producing the most advanced chips.
Despite the Trump administration easing certain sanctions against Syria, companies should still be carrying out careful due diligence and should be aware of other legal risks they could face before doing any business in the country, industry advisers said this week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s lack of an official replacement regulation for the Biden-era AI diffusion rule is causing significant uncertainty for companies working in the semiconductor sector, industry officials said this week. Although BIS has said it doesn’t plan to enforce the rule, at least one consultant said she’s not yet comfortable advising clients to ignore those restrictions.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is still discussing how it wants to craft its replacement to the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, an agency official said, as well as preparing to finalize recent rules that reduced licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items and proposed to simplify the License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization. The official also said the Trump administration is considering tweaks to export licensing, acknowledging that applications are taking longer than usual.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to soon loosen some export controls on Syria, a move that would align with the Treasury Department’s lifting of certain financial sanctions against the country last month (see 2505230073).