Although Chinese ocean operations and domestic trucking activities are returning to normal, there remains significant concerns over equipment and space availability for ocean fighters around the world, according to a March 17 emailed alert from Crane Worldwide Logistics. Air cargo transportation also remains uncertain, with availability of ports in China constantly changing and countries canceling flights to regions with high concentrations of coronavirus cases, the alert said.

The European Commission announced export controls on shipments of certain protective medical equipment, which will now require authorizations before being sent to third countries, according to a March 15 press release. Several European countries also announced travel restrictions due to the coronavirus, including Germany and Poland, which may impact supply chains and cargo shipments.

The Trump administration is prioritizing efforts surrounding its export controls, investment screening and diplomacy to restrict China from acquiring sensitive dual-use technologies, a senior State Department official said. The official, speaking to reporters March 12, said China has ramped up technology theft and said companies and research institutions should be cautious of any attempts by Chinese companies to divert their products for military end-use, which are often masked in “incentives and inducements.”

The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security added 24 entities to its Entity List and revised five existing entries, the agency said in a notice. The new entries include companies in China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates; and the revised entries are for entities in France, Iran, Lebanon, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The changes take effect March 16. All shipments now requiring a license as a result of this rule that were on dock for loading or aboard a carrier to a port as of that date may proceed to their destinations under the previous eligibility, BIS said.

A top Commerce Department official tempered fears that the U.S. wants to stifle industry competitiveness (see 2003100044 and 2002180060) as it considers further restricting exports to Huawei and China, saying that is not the administration's goal. “Why would you restrict a U.S. company if you're only going to be enabling their competitor?” said Rich Ashooh, Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration. “That’s a very important principle to engage in.”

The Census Bureau is reaching out to companies that conduct value-added for re-exports in an effort to learn more about the process, Kiesha Downs, chief of the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, said during a March 10 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Census has reached out to two companies so far, Downs said, but encourages other re-exporters to contact the agency.

The timeline for the release of CBP’s electronic export manifest system remains unclear despite hopes on the part of some officials that the system would be launched last year (see 1910180061). “I believe it’ll be a little bit down the road,” Kiesha Downs, chief of the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch, said during a March 10 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “Everybody knows how long it takes to go through the regulatory process.”

The Commerce Department is still considering placing export controls on Gate-All-Around Field Effect Transistor (GAAFET) technology, despite withdrawing the rule from the Office of Management and Budget last month (see 2002130033), said Hillary Hess, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s director of regulatory policy. The rule was expected to be one of six controls issued by Commerce early this year (see 1912160032) as part of the agency’s effort to control emerging technologies.

Officials from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau and Bureau of Industry and Security met March 9 to align their long-awaited proposed rules on routed export transactions (see 1907100053), which will feature “intense changes” and be accompanied by a series of training sessions and webinars, said Kiesha Downs, chief of the Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch. Officials, including BIS Acting Undersecretary Cordell Hull, met to try to “flesh out” some remaining issues before publishing the proposals, which must be issued simultaneously because of the significant overlap within the rule between BIS and Census, Downs said.

The Commerce Department is drafting a rule to remove certain filing requirements for exporters shipping goods to Puerto Rico, said Kiesha Downs, chief of the Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch. Puerto Rico has lobbied Commerce to remove the requirements for “years,” saying it overly burdens parties with unnecessary electronic export information filings in the Automated Export System, Downs said. “We do understand the burden it may be causing,” Downs said during a March 10 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting. “Sometimes Puerto Rico feels like they are being treated differently.”