The Census Bureau and CBP this week announced new reporting requirements for exporters sending certain chip-related items to China under a temporary general license or “authorization letter” from the Bureau of Industry and Security. Electronic filers of export information must now use one of Census’ two new license codes in the Automated Export System when using a BIS authorization that exempts them from certain licensing requirements under the agency’s sweeping China chip controls released in October (see 2210070049).
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is placing a significant focus on investments that could present data or cybersecurity risks, said CFIUS head Paul Rosen and FBI official Cynthia Kaiser. Rosen also said CFIUS continues to actively pursue non-notified deals and said the administration is still discussing the idea of an outbound investment review regime.
Democrats and Republicans applauded the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership announcement this week, saying the delivery of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia will help shore up security in the Indo-Pacific 2303130035). But lawmakers also said the U.S. should do more to make sure it can easily share sensitive technology within the group, adding that they would support legislation that would revise U.S. defense export regulations.
Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. has increased scrutiny of Chinese investments in recent years, it still continues to clear a range of transactions involving China, said Antonia Tzinova, a CFIUS lawyer with Holland & Knight. Chinese investors are using several tactics to ensure their deals aren’t blocked, Tzinova said, and in some cases are restructuring their investment agreements.
The U.S. this week released a timeline for sharing sensitive nuclear submarine technology with Australia, saying the country will be operating nuclear-powered submarines before the end of the 2030s. The Biden administration also said it’s considering revising its defense export controls to allow it to more easily share controlled technologies with allies, including within the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership.
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.”
The U.S. and the EU plan to increase cooperation to better protect the “leakage” of sensitive technologies, including through export controls, foreign direct investment reviews and outbound investment screening, President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week. In a joint statement after a March 10 meeting at the White House, the two leaders committed to increasing cooperative efforts to prevent “sensitive emerging technologies” and other dual-use items from going to “destinations of concern that operate civil-military fusion strategies.”
Government employees reviewing arms transfers and foreign military sales are tasked with too much work, Mira Resnick, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for regional security, said during an event last week hosted by the Stimson Center. Despite the heavy workload, Resnick said, the agency is working to speed up decisions surrounding arms transfers and is working with the Defense Department to make the Foreign Military Sales program more efficient.
The Bureau of Industry and Security plans to expand its university outreach program to include more schools that may be working on export-controlled technologies, said Matt Axelrod, the agency’s top export enforcement official. Axelrod, speaking during an academic security seminar last week, also outlined the BIS compliance expectations for researchers, warning that not all fundamental research is exempt from export licensing requirements.
The Biden administration's FY 2024 budget request includes funding to support a new outbound investment review “program” and more money for U.S. agencies to carry out export control and sanctions authorities.