The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls recent settlement with Keysight Technologies shows the agency is growing more aggressive with certain compliance requirements and violations involving software and technical data, Miller & Chevalier said Aug. 18. At the same time, DDTC continues to reward cooperation and other mitigating factors with significant penalty reductions as it tries to incentivize companies to voluntarily disclose violations and work with the agency during its investigation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security released a final rule to make technical corrections and clarifications (see 2108110010) to a 2020 rule that transferred export control jurisdiction over certain firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The rule, released Aug. 18 and effective Sept. 20, introduced changes to make the requirements “easier to understand” and “interpreted consistently,” BIS said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. semiconductor manufacturer $469,060 for working with others to export chip-making equipment to Chinese companies on the U.S. Entity List, BIS said in an Aug. 16 order. The company, California-based Dynatex International, violated the Export Administration Regulations because it didn’t obtain the required BIS license before shipping the equipment. Although BIS said Dynatex knew it was shipping items to blacklisted companies, the agency substantially reduced the fine as part of a settlement agreement.
Taiwan is preparing for Beijing foreign policy to grow more aggressive in the coming months and is expecting a strong retaliatory response if it signs a free trade deal with the U.S., a senior Taiwan official said. But the official stressed that the country wants to complete a trade and investment agreement with the U.S. and other democracies, which could strengthen its position as a leading global provider of semiconductors.
Several companies recently disclosed their filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. or updated the status of their ongoing CFIUS reviews. Transactions involve Chinese technology companies, an agricultural technology business and a workplace learning technology provider.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network fined one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange companies $100 million for failing to maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program, which violated the Bank Secrecy Act, according to a recent penalty notice. The violations also exposed other BitMEX compliance issues, including its deficient sanctions screening.
The Biden administration will maintain a Trump-era policy that loosened export restrictions on certain unmanned drones, a decision that drew applause from the aerospace defense industry last year but sparked concern from some lawmakers.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she supports adding China’s anti-foreign sanctions law to Hong Kong’s constitution, a move that would potentially add more challenges for global companies trying to navigate U.S. sanctions compliance and China’s business environment.
More than 80 agricultural trade groups are endorsing a bipartisan House bill they say would address unreasonable detention and demurrage practices and ocean carriers’ refusal to carry U.S. exports in favor of imports. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021, introduced Aug. 10 by Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., aims to support the “growth” of exporters by holding carriers accountable for their unfair fees and declined export bookings, according to a fact sheet from the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
President Joe Biden issued a new executive order to expand existing U.S. sanctions authorities against Belarus and issued a host of new designations targeting the country’s government for last year’s “fraudulent” presidential elections. The Aug. 9 order authorizes sanctions against a broad range of government officials, oligarchs, entities and private companies, including those operating in Belarus’ defense, energy, security, potassium chloride, transportation and construction sectors. Sanctions are also authorized against people or entities with links to “public corruption” in Belarus or transactions deemed to be “deceptive or structured” to evade U.S. sanctions on behalf of the Belarusian government.