The European Commission will present ideas this year on a potential outbound investment screening regime, which could look to prevent European investments in sensitive Chinese technology sectors, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week. She also said the EU will consider new trade restrictions on dual-use goods, including those that may be used for human rights abuses.
Exports to China
The U.S. and more than 20 of its allies this week released an export controls code of conduct, establishing a new forum for “subscribing states” to share information and stop technologies from being used for human rights violations. The Bureau of Industry and Security also issued new guidance describing how it factors human rights issues into its export application decisions and outlining the due diligence responsibilities of exporters.
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.
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.
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 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.
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).
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.”