The Defense Department routinely funds research by Chinese entities that the U.S. government has placed on restricted lists for their ties to China’s military or role in human rights abuses, compromising the value of those designations, the House Select Committee on China said in a new report released Sept. 5.
The Semiconductor Industry Association urged Congress Sept. 5 to reject proposed legislation that it says would impose an “unprecedented expansion” of export controls on advanced AI computing chips.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., proposed an amendment Sept. 4 that would add several export control and sanctions provisions to the pending FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, including a requirement that U.S. manufacturers of advanced AI chips make their products available to American firms before selling them to China and other “countries of concern.”
The U.S.-Japan trade framework released by the White House last week includes commitments to increase cooperation on export controls and investment restrictions, according to a fact sheet.
The Council of the European Union on Sept. 5 sanctioned two people for human rights abuses in detention centers in Crimea. Vadim Bulgakov and Aleksei Pikin are the head and deputy head, respectively, of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, and are responsible for the prisoners, including political prisoners, the council said. The council's announcement said the "EU does not recognise and continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation as a violation of international law," a move Russia made in 2014.
Although the Bureau of Industry and Security published a rule last month to ease certain export controls on Syria (see 2508280029), it also “retained significant parts” of its long-standing restrictions against the country, which could create new compliance challenges for some exporters, Troutman Pepper said in a client alert.
H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser during the first Trump administration, said he disagrees with the government's plan to approve exports of Nvidia's advanced H20 chips to China (see 2508220003) and hopes the administration soon develops a more coherent economic security strategy.
The Commerce Department’s spring 2025 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security features more than 20 new rulemakings that could introduce new or update existing export controls, including restrictions over advanced AI chips, emerging technologies, Russia-related controls and other revisions to the Export Administration Regulations.
Stephanie Connor left her position as assistant director of the Office of Foreign Asset Control's Policy Division to join Holland & Knight's international trade group. Connor, who first joined OFAC in 2022 as an assistant chief counsel, will advise on OFAC sanctions issues, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. regulations, and more.
The U.S. charged Armenian national Kamo Kirakosyan this week with violating export controls after DOJ said he participated in a conspiracy to illegally export semiconductor manufacturing items from the U.S. to Russia through Armenia.