The U.S. will ramp up sanctions pressure against Iran if it doesn’t return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser. Sullivan also said Iran is preparing to send weapons technology to Russia in violation of international export controls.
Some of the Federal Maritime Commission’s proposed changes to its rules for Carrier Automated Tariffs (see 2205090006) are unnecessary and could place too heavy a burden on industry, two trade groups and a logistics company said in comments this month. The commenters were especially critical of a proposed change that would add more requirements to container documentation, and said they wouldn't support a proposal that would allow a non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) to cross-reference the terms in a vessel-operating common carrier’s (VOCC) tariffs.
A U.S. appeals court on July 8 affirmed a 2020 District of Columbia court ruling dismissing FedEx’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security, saying the shipping company failed to show BIS acted outside its authority. The court also rejected FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the Export Administration Regulations to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and penalize them even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.
The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced July 8. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until July 15.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on July 7 sent an interim final rule for interagency review that will clarify how export controls are applied in the context of international standards-setting bodies. The rule will specifically authorize certain items and “releases of technology” to entities on the Entity List “for standards setting or development in standards organizations,” BIS said.
Although Chinese companies with little international exposure may decide to violate export restrictions against Russia, most of the larger companies likely won’t take the risk, experts said. So far, most Chinese companies are complying with the sanctions and only continuing to buy Russian oil and gas, the experts said, despite strong opposition to Western sanctions by the Chinese government.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's recent shift in enforcement policies and strategy could “significantly” increase risks for companies, law firms said, especially those based in the U.S. The changes could cause businesses to invest more in compliance, they said, and could lead to a more aggressive BIS enforcement posture.
Although China hasn’t yet implemented its anti-foreign-sanctions law in Hong Kong, it may only be a matter of time, said Jessica Bartlett, the global head of financial crime legal at Barclays, speaking during a July 6 event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said multinational companies are continuing to face a “challenging” sanctions compliance environment in Hong Kong, which could grow more difficult depending on how the government decides whether and if to penalize firms for complying with foreign sanctions.
The State Department published its spring 2022 regulatory agenda, including a new mention of a final rule that will expand the types of defense items and services that can be sent to Australia, the U.K. and Canada. The rule would specifically amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to expand certain trade under existing defense trade treaties between the countries, and would also amend the Canadian exemptions. Other changes will make “clarifying amendments and conforming updates” to Supplement No. 1 to part 126 of the ITAR, specifically to U.S. Munitions List Categories IV(i), manufacturing know-how, and Category XII, night vision entries. The agency hopes to issue the rule this month.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is still reviewing export controls on facial recognition software, surveillance-related products and other goods controlled for crime-control reasons, but it may move forward on the rule soon, a Commerce Department official said.