Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee accused the Trump administration Aug. 25 of taking what they see as a conflicting approach to export controls for computing chips.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and two entities for helping North Korea deploy information technology workers at foreign companies to generate revenue for its government.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is renewing a general license that authorizes certain imports of Russian non-industrial, unsorted diamonds that were substantially transformed outside of Russia. General License 104A, which replaces 104, authorizes those imports as long as the diamonds were located outside of Russia on March 1, 2024, for diamonds weighing 1 carat or more, and Sept. 1, 2024, if they weigh more than 0.5 carats but less than 1 carat. The license was set to expire Sept. 1 (see 2408230043), but it now expires on that date in 2026.
New guidance from U.S. national security agencies warns academic institutions and researchers to guard against increasing attempts by China and others to illegally acquire research, expertise or export controlled technologies. It also recommends steps researchers should take to make sure they don’t violate export laws, including if they’re involved in a foreign talent recruitment program or collaborating on research with people from another country.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a final rule Aug. 28 that will ease export controls on Syria by making the country eligible for more license exceptions and revising current BIS license review policies for Syria to “be more favorable.” The rule, effective Sept. 2, will also create a new License Exception Syria Peace and Prosperity, which will authorize exports and reexports to Syria of items designated under the Export Administration Regulations as EAR99.
The EU this week posted new guidance about ownership and control to its Sanctions Helpdesk website, describing the rules that apply to entities owned or controlled by a sanctioned party, how the EU defines ownership and control, how EU companies can rebut the presumption of ownership or control, and more. The guidance also recommended that EU companies take several due diligence steps to make sure their customers, suppliers and counterparties aren't controlled by a sanctioned entity or person, including by collecting information to verify their ownership structure, checking any possible "red flags" and asking questions to "resolve any remaining concerns."
The State Department is seeking public comments on an information collection related to Part 130 of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which deals with political contributions, fees and commissions relating to sales of defense articles and services. Under the ITAR, defense exporters shipping certain goods worth more than $500,000 to a foreign armed service, international organization or others must notify the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls about certain political contributions or fees associated with the sale, the agency said. Comments are due Oct. 27.
A bill to repeal a U.S. economic sanctions law targeting Syria was among the topics Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., discussed with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during a visit to the Middle Eastern country, Shaheen's office said Aug. 25.
A new law that will require the Bureau of Industry and Security to provide Congress with annual reports on certain export licensing information could lead to more "scrutiny" over BIS licensing activity, including through congressional hearings, Akin said in a client alert this week. The firm also said it could increase congressional requests to certain exporters or give rise to more legislation "regarding the scope of controls, parties to be added" to the Entity List or the Military End User List, or "requests for revocation of licenses."
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