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.
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The Trump administration has no plans to ease existing sanctions on Russia while it seeks a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, a State Department nominee told a Senate panel June 10.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recently issued advanced chip guidance appears to raise compliance expectations for industry, especially for banks and forwarders that may be indirectly or inadvertently violating export controls on China, lawyers said.
The Commerce Department is drafting a replacement for its recently repealed AI diffusion rule to ensure the new controls don’t impede U.S. exports to allies, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said June 4.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said June 3 that he hopes the Trump administration will release a new AI diffusion export control rule “soon" to replace the one it recently rescinded.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., warned Nvidia and other U.S. chip firms last week that they will face penalties if they send advanced AI chips to China.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang last week criticized U.S. export controls on advanced chips, saying restrictions against China have so far been a “failure.” He called on the government to allow Nvidia and other chip companies to more freely sell to China, which he said will help the U.S. economy.
Eight Senate Democrats, including Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged the Trump administration May 19 to reconsider its AI deals with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, saying the agreements lack guardrails to prevent the diversion of U.S. technology to China.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security announced last week that it won’t be enforcing the Biden-era AI diffusion rule, companies should reassess their due diligence practices to prepare for a replacement rule and make sure they’re complying with existing chip controls, law firms said, which they expect the Trump administration to aggressively enforce.