The Biden administration is doing too little to counter China’s material support for Russia’s war machine, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said July 30.
A U.S. District Court in Kentucky on July 24 said that the U.S. statute barring the smuggling of goods from the U.S. covers only material items and doesn't extend to emails. U.S. District Judge for Western Kentucky David Hale dismissed a charge against defense contractor Quadrant Magnetics, along with several of its employees, which said the parties smuggled goods from the U.S. by "emailing magnet schematics to Chinese manufacturers."
New rules from the Commerce and State departments could lead to a range of new restrictions on U.S. support for certain foreign military intelligence and security services, increasing export licensing requirements for activities that could give U.S. adversaries a “critical military or intelligence advantage.”
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The State Department sent a rule for interagency review that would finalize its April proposal to exempt Australia and the U.K. from certain International Traffic in Arms Regulations licensing requirements as part of the AUKUS partnership (see 2404300050). The interim final rule was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs July 19. At least one industry group criticized the proposed rule for not removing enough barriers to defense trade among the three countries (see 2406030056).
The State Department’s recently published spring 2024 regulatory agenda mentions several rules that could update defense export controls under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including one that would update ITAR language surrounding defense services and another to revise controls for certain circuit boards and semiconductors.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on July 9 denied a U.S. defense manufacturer's motion to dismiss allegations that it criminally smuggled weapons by selling drawings of a rare earth permanent magnet used in F/A-18 Super Hornets to China (U.S. v. Quadrant Magnetics, LLC, W.D. Ky. # 3:22-CR-88-DJH).
The Commerce Department’s spring 2024 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security features a range of upcoming rules that could update and expand U.S. export control regulations, including new controls on the activities of U.S. persons in support of foreign military and intelligence agencies, revised regulatory language to address “diversion concerns,” new multilateral restrictions on emerging technologies and broader license requirements for Pakistan.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said July 11 he has told Indian leaders to stop buying new Russian military equipment or risk losing his support for U.S. arms exports to the South Asian country.
Jessica Lewis, who leads the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, will leave the government this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced July 9. Lewis worked on a range of defense trade issues during her three years with the State Department, including the Biden administration's revamped arms transfer policies (see 2302230049 and 2111040056) and its efforts to harmonize defense export controls with Australia and the U.K. as part of the AUKUS partnership (see 2305240061 and 2309270007). Blinken said Lewis is returning "to private life."