The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated its Russian price cap guidance last week to include information on the recently imposed cap on Russian petroleum products. The measure -- which took effect 12:01 a.m. EST on Feb. 5 -- sets a $45 per barrel cap for petroleum products that trade at a discount to crude, such as naphtha and waste oils, and a $100 per barrel cap on products that trade at a premium to crude, such as motor fuel.
DOJ’s new corporate enforcement policies substantially increase compliance incentives and may lead to more voluntary self-disclosures, law firms said. But they also said much of the new policy will depend on how DOJ implements the changes, and it remains unclear how much of a downstream impact the revisions will have on export control and sanctions cases handled by other agencies.
A Miami-based company violated U.S. export regulations when it illegally shipped red dot scopes to Austria and Switzerland, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in Feb. 2 order. The company, Dotphins, entered into a settlement agreement with BIS that will require it to complete compliance training.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will hold a two-day conference this month to help it better understand emerging brain computer interface (BCI) technology as it considers potential export controls. The public conference, which will be both in person and virtual Feb. 16-17, comes a little more than a year after the agency requested public comments on potential BCI export restrictions (see 2110250011).
U.S policymakers should further study the extent to which U.S. investors support China’s artificial intelligence industry and should revise the scope of a Treasury Department list that restricts investments in Chinese military companies, experts from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology said in a new report. The report also said the U.S. should consider imposing investment restrictions on certain companies added to the Entity List.
New U.S. chip export controls are among the most complex export regulatory provisions ever published and have caused significant uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, trade groups and technology firms told the Bureau of Industry and Security in comments that were due this week. More than 40 companies, trade associations, law firms and others asked BIS to revise parts of the regulations or offer more guidance to avoid hurting U.S. competitiveness, with some saying the new controls may force foreign companies to stop using U.S.-origin items altogether rather than deal with the added compliance obligations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added seven Iranian entities to the Entity List this week for their involvement in drone transfers to Russia, the agency said in a final rule. The entities are Iranian producers of unmanned aerial vehicles, top BIS export enforcement official, Matthew Axelrod, said during a Toronto conference this week, adding that Russia is using the drones to “attack civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
The upcoming U.S. outbound investment review tool probably won’t be used to unwind past deals, and will likely only target investments in specific, sensitive technology areas, said Laura Black, a former Treasury Department official. But she said companies still should prepare for a new outbound investment executive order and be ready for other jurisdictions to implement their own outbound investment controls, including in the EU.
Despite requests from industry, the Bureau of Industry and Security may push back on publishing a comprehensive list of advanced Chinese semiconductor fabrication facilities that are subject to the October chip controls, said Kevin Wolf, an Akin Gump lawyer and former BIS official. But the agency could meet industry halfway and publish a list similar to its military end-user list (see 2012220027), which could be a regularly updated, noncomprehensive set of facilities subject to the agency’s China chip controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has drafted new guidance for its October rule that expanded certain China-related chip controls (see 2210070049) and hopes to release it soon, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration. Kendler, speaking during a virtual conference hosted by the Massachusetts Export Center last week, also touched on the rule’s expiring temporary general license and urged industry to submit feedback on the new restrictions before the deadline this week.