Amid rising pressure from Congress, a Bureau of Industry and Security official said the agency is struggling to identify specific emerging technologies for potential export controls and urged industry and academia for more help. Senior BIS official Thea Kendler said the suggestions she has received since her December confirmation (see 2201050023) are too broad as BIS looks to introduce new controls under the Export Control Reform Act.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on April 7 suspended the export privileges of three Russian airlines for violating U.S. export controls against Russia. The agency issued 180-day temporary denial orders for Aeroflot, Azur Air and UTair, barring the airlines from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, BIS said.
Paul Rosen, President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Treasury Department’s foreign investment screening efforts (see 2203090015), said he will continue to prioritize U.S. reviews of China-related transactions and wants to better encourage companies to submit voluntary filings. If confirmed, Rosen also said, he will focus on helping allies bolster their own investment screening regimes.
If the Bureau of Industry and Security’s new undersecretary doesn’t quickly prove he can make progress on export controls for foundational technologies, Congress should consider moving the authority to a different agency, said Derek Scissors, a China economics expert with the American Enterprise Institute. Although lawmakers have previously threatened to revoke BIS’s authority under the Export Control Reform Act (see 2111170064 and 2110250035), Scissors said they should wait to first hear whether newly confirmed undersecretary Alan Estevez has a plan to speed up the agency, which has been criticized for moving too slowly on the controls.
After the Bureau of Industry and Security added 120 entities to its Entity List last week for supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries (see 2204010080), senior BIS official Thea Kendler said the U.S. won’t “hesitate” to impose more export restrictions.
New allegations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine are expected to trigger another set of U.S. and EU sanctions, with some top European officials calling for energy embargoes and harsher financial restrictions. Although the European Commission was already expected to consider expanding some of its existing sanctions this week, the bloc may take more significant steps after images surfaced over the weekend of potential war crimes committed by Russia's military, including in Bucha, Ukraine.
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 April 1. 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 April 8.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 1 fined S&P Global, a business analytics firm, $78,750 for violating U.S. Ukraine-related sanctions regulations. OFAC said the case was non-egreious, partly due to S&P's cooperation and agreement to improve its compliance program.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its 2022 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, detailing the most significant foreign market access issues facing U.S. exporters. The report examines a range of import policies, tariffs, customs procedures and phytosanitary measures that are restricting U.S. goods, including China’s new “opaque and burdensome” facility registration requirements.
U.S. export controls against Russia have proven to be effective more quickly than expected, said Thea Kendler, the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export administration. While the U.S. restrictions have hit key Russian industrial and defense inputs, Kendler said a major reason behind their success has been the substantial buy-in from allies in Europe and Asia.