The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order last week suspending the export privileges of Russian company Radiotester OOO and owner Ilya Balakaev for illegally shipping “counterintelligence items” to Russia and North Korea. The denial order was released alongside a DOJ indictment charging Balakaev for smuggling devices used in foreign counterintelligence and military operations from the U.S. to Russia and “for the benefit” of Russia’s Federal Security Service and North Korea. Both Radiotester and Balakaev will be subject to a 180-denial order, barring either from exporting items or participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The U.S. announced a new, sweeping set of export controls and sanctions last week to further hobble Russia on the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus, new export controls against Iran to address its drone transfers to Russia, and new financial sanctions against more than 100 people and entities. Many of the measures, which were announced alongside similar actions by U.S. G-7 allies, aim to “cut off the Russian defense industrial base and military from even low-technology consumer items,” the Bureau of Industry and Security said.
The State Department this week released its long-awaited revised arms transfer policies (see 2111040056), outlining how the Biden administration will assess arms transfer risks while also promoting U.S. defense trade. The Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy formalizes the “priorities and rationale” the administration has been using to adjudicate arms transfer decisions, which it said includes a heavy focus on human rights issues.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced a range of updates to its export regulations stemming from agreements made during the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary meeting, including revisions to the Commerce Control List and the license exceptions Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) and Strategic Trade Authorization (STA). The agency also made several corrections to the Export Administration Regulations, including to align the scope of its Significant Item (SI) license requirements throughout the EAR.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced a host of new export control actions aimed at further limiting Russia from sustaining its war effort against Ukraine, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of the agency’s industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus and new export controls against Iran to address its drone transfers to Russia. The measures, effective Feb. 24, add 86 new entities to the Entity List; place additional restrictions on commercial, industrial and luxury goods; impose new license requirements on “low-technology” items destined to Iran; create a new Iran Foreign Direct Product Rule, and more.
Japan and other G-7 countries should use the group’s trade ministers meeting later this year to push for a common set of export control standards across member states, which could help allied export control systems better respond to modern security and human rights issues, export control and technology policy experts said. In comments recently submitted to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the experts said plurilateral controls by G-7 countries and other like-minded “techno-democracies” can address some issues the existing multilateral control regimes are hindered from tackling because of Russia’s membership (see 2211210005 and 2009290042).
The U.S. and its allies are planning a “renewed effort” to counter Russia’s sanctions evasion tactics, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said this week, speaking during a Feb. 21 event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. He said part of the effort will include new sanctions and export controls, more enforcement cooperation with allies and more direct conversations with companies that are still doing business with Russia.
The State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations need “major reform” if the U.S. wants the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership to succeed, Rajiv Shah, a fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote Feb 16. AUKUS, which is aimed at allowing the three trade partners to better share sensitive defense technology, is being hindered by the ITAR, Shah said in his ASPI article, which too often “stymie[s] collaboration and innovation between allies” and provides “no obvious reduction in security risk.”
As U.S. government regulators continue to face pressure from Congress to more quickly place export restrictions on emerging technologies, the Commerce Department and industry officials are grappling with the potential ethical consequences of controls on a technology that could have groundbreaking medical benefits.
The Commerce Department and DOJ this week launched a new task force to “target illicit actors” and protect critical technologies from being acquired by “nation-state adversaries.” The Disruptive Technology Strike Force -- which will be led by Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and DOJ’s National Security Division -- will focus on investigating and prosecuting criminal export violations, improving “administrative enforcement” of export controls, coordinating law enforcement actions and “disruption strategies” with U.S. allies and more.