The U.S. will soon reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of countries and may transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to four rules released by the agencies Oct. 17. The rulemakings are designed to “modernize” U.S. export controls on space technologies, a senior Commerce official told reporters, including by easing restrictions on exports of less sensitive space technologies, certain spacecraft-related items and more.
American defense firm RTX will pay close to $1 billion to resolve allegations that it tried to defraud the U.S. government and committed violations of defense export control regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ and the SEC said Oct. 16. The company agreed to enter into two deferred prosecution agreements to settle the claims, which included Raytheon’s alleged failure to report bribes in export licensing applications and its submission of false information to the U.S. as part of multiple foreign military defense contracts.
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.
A bipartisan group of seven senators led by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., urged the Biden administration last week to speed up implementation of new Iran sanctions laws, including a measure aimed at curbing the country’s oil revenue.
Western policymakers should sharpen their approach to economic sanctions to avoid the kinds of mistakes that have limited the impact of such measures against Russia, according to a recent paper released by the Brookings Institution.
Beijing held a national conference on export controls last week, where government officials summarized Chinese export control actions over the past year and “studied and arranged the next key tasks,” according to an unofficial translation of a notice from China’s commerce ministry. Officials called for an “improvement of the modern national export control system” and added that export controls play “an increasingly important role in safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests and promoting high-quality development of trade,” the ministry said.
The State Department has completed a round of interagency review for a proposed rule that could revise the International Traffic in Arms Regulations by updating export controls on certain launch vehicles, ballistic missiles and other items in Category IV of the U.S. Munitions List and spacecraft and related items in Category XV of the USML. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Sept. 17 and completed Oct. 10, would "describe more precisely the articles warranting control on the USML," the agency said, and build on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued in March 2019 that solicited comments on the changes.
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.