Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., unveiled new legislation this week that they said will build on last year’s Ocean Shipping Reform Act (see 2303240068) by further expanding the Federal Maritime Commission's authority and “crack down” on China’s “attempts to influence America’s supply chain.” The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act, introduced March 29, would block U.S. ports from using Chinese state-sponsored logistics software, allow the FMC to investigate foreign shipping exchanges to “preempt improper business practices," authorize the commission to “streamline data standards” to aid maritime freight logistics and more.
Exports to China
The head of TikTok said the U.S. shouldn't have concerns about its parent company, ByteDance, even as lawmakers said they believe the Chinese government can use the company to access sensitive data collected by the app. TikTok CEO Shou Chew said the app is not controlled by China and said it has built a firewall to prevent U.S. personal data from “unauthorized foreign access.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 32 parties to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify their “legitimacy and reliability” for receiving export-controlled items. The additions include 14 entries in China, five in the United Arab Emirates, four in Turkey, two in Germany and one each in Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is preparing to publish a proposed rule that would expand the agency’s restrictions on certain activities that support foreign military, security or intelligence services. The rule, expected next week, would implement a provision in the FY 2023 defense spending bill that one lawmaker hailed as the “largest expansion of presidential export control authority in several years” (see 2212210032).
The Commerce Department this week released proposed “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding, which could restrict how the funding is used in certain countries and align the guardrails with export restrictions. The proposed rule would block funding recipients from pursuing certain chip investments in China and other “foreign countries of concern,” restrict them from participating in certain research or technology licensing efforts with those countries, prevent the funding from being provided to companies on the Entity List and more, Commerce said.
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.
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.
U.S. export controls against China could cause the country to dominate the global industry for “lower-capability” chip technologies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its annual threat assessment released last week. The DNI also warned that China, which is quickly building new chip factories, remains the “top threat to U.S. technological competitiveness.”
The Netherlands this week announced plans to impose new export controls on advanced semiconductor production equipment, a move the U.S. hopes will align it more closely with American restrictions on exports to China. The new Dutch controls (see 2302160011) will target specific chip technologies “in which the Netherlands has a unique and leading position,” Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said in a letter to the country’s parliament, adding that any additional restrictions should be imposed multilaterally.
The Bureau of Industry and Security approved $23 billion worth of prospective exports involving Chinese companies on the Entity List from January through March 2022, representing about 79% of all license applications it received for those companies during that time period. The data, recently released by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, shows an “unacceptable” amount of approvals, the lawmaker said.