The Treasury Department issued updated guidance on Hong Kong-related sanctions and the State Department issued a report to Congress under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, the agencies said Oct. 14.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is reviewing new export controls on items related to semiconductors, potentially including design elements and software, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. McCaul said some U.S. export restrictions may need to be strengthened to address continuing Chinese attempts to steal U.S. technologies.

The Bureau of Industry and Security should be careful not to place overly broad, unilateral export restrictions on items for crowd control reasons if the controls disproportionately hurt U.S. competitiveness, industry told BIS in comments released this month. But some commenters, including a human rights advocacy group and a Congress member, called for new export restrictions and suggested existing controls -- especially on technologies that contribute to Chinese human rights abuses -- should be tightened.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a range of sanctions targeting 17 major Iranian banks for operating in the country’s financial sector and one Iranian bank for being affiliated with the Iranian military. The agency also issued a general license authorizing certain transactions with the banks and announced a 45-day wind-down period for activities involving non U.S. people and companies.

The Bureau of Industry and Security removed 40 entries and added 26 others to its Unverified List, the agency said in a final rule released Oct. 8. BIS removed the 40 entries -- located in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates -- after verifying their “legitimacy and reliability” relating to the end use of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations or because their companies are no longer “involved in U.S. exports.” BIS added the 26 others -- located in Armenia, Finland, Hong Kong, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, the UAE, Mexico and China -- because it was unable to verify their “bona fides” through an end-use check. The changes take effect Oct. 9.

The Bureau of Industry and Security imposed a license requirement on certain exports of water cannon systems and revised its licensing policy for crime control (CC) items. The moves will place more oversight on exports that have potential to be used for human rights violations, BIS said in final rules released Oct. 5. Both rules take effect Oct. 6.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Oct. 2 announced new export controls (see 2008100013 and 2005190052) on six emerging technologies. The controls, which were agreed to by Wassenaar Arrangement members during its 2019 plenary, include:

A former U.S. official and a Senate staffer who worked closely with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security’s handling of emerging and foundational technologies, saying the lengthy process is impeding the work of CFIUS. David Hanke, the former staffer and architect of the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, called CFIUS’s reliance on BIS’s export control effort a “deeply flawed system,” while Nova Daly, the Treasury Department’s former deputy assistant secretary for investment security and policy, acknowledged the process is difficult but said BIS should move faster.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued guidance Oct. 1 on the sanctions risks of facilitating ransomware payments. The guidance urged companies to refrain from facilitating payments “on behalf of victims” of cyberattacks because they encourage future payment demands and may risk sanctions violations.

The administration should increase export controls and sanctions pressure on China, place more scrutiny on Chinese foreign direct investment and push for the modernization of multilateral export regimes, the House’s Republican-led China Task Force said in a Sept. 30 report. It urged the administration to act quickly, saying China and other U.S. “adversaries” are flouting international export control laws and undermining U.S. technology industries.