The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 27 announced an immediate 90-day suspension of new export licenses for certain firearms, components and ammunition while it reviews its firearms policies to determine whether any permanent changes are “warranted.” During the next 90 days, the agency said it will not issue any new licenses for those exports to non-government end users worldwide, apart from Ukraine, Israel or a nation listed in Country Group A:1.
American, Australian and British officials were pressed this week about why they haven’t sought to include other close allies -- including Canada, Japan or South Korea -- in an ongoing effort to reduce burdensome U.S. defense export control requirements. Speaking during a summit of government and defense industry representatives from more than 25 countries, the officials said reducing restrictions as part of the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership has proven complicated, and the nations aren’t yet ready to expand the group.
Jenner & Block partner Rachel Alpert was tapped to serve as the chief counsel to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the firm announced on Oct. 24. Alpert has worked at Jenner & Block since 2021 and has fleshed out the firm's national security, sanctions and export controls practice, along with the human rights and global strategy practice. Her practice centered around export controls and sanctions proceedings under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations and OFAC regulations, among other things. Prior to working at Jenner & Block, Alpert worked as an attorney-adviser to the State Department and as counsel at Latham & Watkins.
The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a final rule for interagency review that would make corrections to the Export Administration Regulations. The rule, sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 23, would “correct inadvertent errors to two recent” BIS Federal Register notices and would be “merely technical corrections,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked the export privileges of a Georgia resident after she admitted to trying to illegally export about $25,000 worth of optical sighting devices from the U.S. to China. As part of a settlement agreement, Dina Zhu of Lawrenceville, Georgia, will be barred from participating in any transaction subject to the Export Administration Regulations for one year from Oct. 20, but she won’t face a fine.
The Commerce Department’s long-awaited routed export rule continues to face delays due to a lack of agency resources and attention, said Gerry Horner, chief of the Census Bureau’s Trade Regulations Branch. Horner said both Census and the Bureau of Industry and Security currently “just don't have the resources” to make progress on the effort.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added 13 Chinese entities to the Entity List that are involved in developing advanced computing semiconductors that may be used for activities that threaten U.S. national security, the agency announced this week. Each of the entities will be subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, including BIS foreign direct product rule restrictions. Licenses will be reviewed under a presumption of denial.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week released a range of updates to its Oct. 7, 2022, China chip controls, unveiling two rules that will impose new license requirements on additional chips and chipmaking tools, make revisions to its U.S. persons restrictions, expand licensing requirements for exports of certain chipmaking items to U.S. arms-embargoed countries, create a new notification requirement and introduce other measures to address export control circumvention risks.
Logistics companies, especially those based in China, should closely examine their U.S. export control risks, particularly after the Commerce Department added a range of Chinese logistics firms to the Entity List earlier this month for their involvement in microelectronics exports to Russia (see 2310060044), major Asian law firm King & Wood Mallesons said in a client alert last week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week will officially extend authorizations for South Korean semiconductor companies Samsung and SK Hynix to allow them to continue supplying certain controlled chip equipment to their Chinese factories. The move -- which formalizes authorizations that have applied to both companies since the agency issued its China chip rule Oct. 7, 2022 -- underscores the importance of the Korean chip industry to global semiconductor supply, BIS officials said.