The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is willing to consider ways to accelerate its emerging and foundational technology control effort but won't abandon its multilateral efforts just to publish controls more quickly, a top official told a bipartisan congressional commission on China Wednesday. Acting BIS Undersecretary Jeremy Pelter acknowledged criticism that the agency is moving too slowly on the congressionally mandated export control effort but defended the work BIS has done so far and said the agency doesn’t plan to change course.

The Commerce Department’s delay in issuing emerging and foundational technology controls may not be hampering U.S. foreign investment reviews as much as some lawmakers have suggested, trade lawyers said. Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. doesn’t yet have a clear set of Commerce-defined critical technologies to target, that has not slowed down CFIUS from catching non-notified deals in critical technology sectors, the lawyers said in interviews, especially those involving semiconductors (see 2109010051).

The Treasury Department needs to provide significant assurances to banks and non-governmental organizations that they will not be sanctioned for transactions related to humanitarian relief in Afghanistan (see 2108260055), a former sanctions official and an export control official said. Without those assurances, large banks will be unwilling to risk approving transactions to the country because they fear violating U.S. sanctions and potentially large enforcement penalties.

The proposed merger between Magnachip Semiconductor and Wise Road Capital (see 2106150039) was likely never going to avoid U.S. scrutiny, a trade lawyer said, and it is puzzling why the two companies didn’t voluntarily submit a declaration to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Scott Flicker, who advises clients on CFIUS matters for Paul Hastings, said the decision was either a mistake or a calculated decision by the two companies’ lawyers.

Several countries this month broadly expanded sanctions against Belarus for corruption and human rights violations, which could affect business and trade activities for companies operating in the region, law firms said. The restrictions -- imposed by the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Switzerland -- “significantly escalated” sanctions against Belarus and the Alexander Lukashenko regime, Baker McKenzie said Aug. 27.

The Commerce Department hasn’t been able to move forward on its routed export rule because it is awaiting confirmation of political appointees in the Bureau of Industry and Security, according to a document recently posted by CBP. The rule, which has seen several delays, involves “critical issues that need attention” from BIS appointees, the document said. President Joe Biden recently nominated Alan Estevez to lead BIS (see 2107130004) and Thea Kendler to be assistant secretary for export administration (see 2107280063), but neither has had a confirmation hearing scheduled.

Several Republican lawmakers criticized the Biden administration this week for reportedly (see 2108250018) granting export licenses for companies to ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of auto chips to Huawei. The licenses reportedly were approved within the past several months and authorized only exports of auto chips, which are viewed as less sensitive than other types of semiconductor-related items.

The State Department this week sent a final rule for interagency review that would amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to create definitions for activities that are not exports, reexports or retransfers. The rule would create definitions for a range of activities, including launching items into space, providing technical data to U.S. people within the U.S. or within a single country abroad, and moving defense articles between states, possessions and U.S. territories.

Instead of imposing more sanctions against the Taliban, the U.S. will likely try to repurpose existing regimes to better target the group, sanctions and security experts said. The task, which the experts expect to be “very” challenging, will aim to update a U.S. sanctions program that was originally intended to target terrorists but will need to now target the Taliban-controlled Afghan government. The efforts should be coordinated with allies, the experts added, but could be slowed by the delayed nominations of two senior Treasury Department sanctions officials, who have not yet cleared the Senate.

CBP will no longer classify shipments of certain used vehicles from the U.S. to Puerto Rico as exports, CBP said in an Aug. 24 message. Although the change will eliminate some filing requirements, others will remain, including certain Electronic Export Information filings.