China has been more receptive to U.S. end-use checks on Chinese entities as a result of a Commerce Department policy change from October, Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said this week. Estevez also said he doesn’t expect any significant revisions to BIS’s most recent chip restrictions on China, and warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would spark new, strict U.S. export controls that would cause U.S. companies to lose “billions” of dollars in Chinese business.
The U.S. and the EU announced new export control initiatives during the Trade and Technology Council’s meetings this week, including a pilot program to better exchange information on dual-use export controls and a new effort to increase research collaboration on quantum technologies. But the U.S. didn’t use the meetings to try to convince European officials to push its firms, such as ASML, to adopt more stringent chip export controls against China, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
U.S.-based Omni Logistics violated shipping regulations when it failed to include required information on demurrage invoices for more than 200 containers, said TPG Pressure, a U.S. supplier of construction equipment and services. In a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission dated Nov. 29, TPG said it was forced to pay Omni more than $860,000 in unfair fees before the company released its cargo, adding that Omni also invoiced TPG an additional $362,000 for “alleged services and costs.”
U.S. share of global semiconductor design revenue has declined over the past decade, partly due to export controls and other trade restrictions, the Semiconductor Industry Association and Boston Consulting Group said in a report last week. If the U.S. continues on its path and doesn’t properly tailor its restrictions, U.S. shares of global revenues could drop 10 percentage points over this decade, the report warned.
The U.S. is confident that world leaders will agree to a price cap on Russian oil ahead of the Dec. 5 cap start date, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said during a Dec. 1 event hosted by Reuters. Adeyemo suggested the U.S., the G-7 and the EU are close to an agreement that would prohibit a range of shipping services related to the transport of Russian oil being traded above a certain price (see 2211230047).
The U.S. expects allies to eventually impose similar semiconductor export controls against China, said National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, echoing comments by Commerce Department officials earlier this year (see 2210270047 and 2211040014). Sullivan, speaking Nov. 30 during a conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the South Korean JoongAng media group, said the U.S. “engaged in intensive consultations” with South Korea and Japan before the administration's latest chip controls were released in October (see 2210070049), which ultimately shaped how the restrictions were crafted and could lead to those two countries and other joining the U.S.
The maritime industry should see an increase in Russian sanctions evasion tactics as the U.S., the EU and others prepare to set a price cap on Russian oil, said David Tannenbaum, a former sanctions compliance specialist at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Logistics companies and others should be on the lookout for a rise in deceptive maritime practices, which could call for more compliance work and recordkeeping to avoid running afoul of U.S. sanctions, said Marco Crusafio, an international shipping lawyer with Squire Patton.
The U.S. is looking to “aggressively” reform and bolster its export controls and investment screening tools to counter China, particularly surrounding emerging and foundational technologies, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, speaking Nov. 30 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Raimondo outlined what she called the U.S.’s “economic competitiveness strategy” toward China, stressing that the administration isn't looking to sever trade ties with the country but that companies in sensitive sectors should be reassessing business with China.
As the U.S. tries to convince allies to adopt similar export controls against China (see 2210270047 and 2210070049), some trading partners have voiced concerns over the U.S.’s strategy, saying they would rather have worked on crafting restrictions alongside the U.S. as opposed to having controls forced upon them, a Commerce Department official said.
The House this week will look to impose a labor deal on the rail industry in a bid to avoid a looming strike that could cause widespread disruptions to supply chains. The effort, announced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, came hours after President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to adopt the tentative agreement between labor unions and rail companies from September (see 2209150012) “without any modifications or delay” to “avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown.”