Among the potential candidates to head the Bureau of Industry and Security is James Mulvenon, a Chinese technology expert at the aerospace company SOS International, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 11. Mulvenon is expected to be considered for the undersecretary role along with Kevin Wolf (see 2102090060), an export controls lawyer and a former BIS official, and could bring a more hard-line stance on U.S. technology exports to China, the report said.
The Biden administration is looking to place new export controls on sensitive technologies destined for China, according to a Feb. 10 Reuters report, continuing a trend of technology controls begun under the Trump administration. But the U.S. hopes to better coordinate with allies on those controls instead of imposing unilateral restrictions that may damage the competitiveness of U.S. companies, the report said. A senior administration official told Reuters the U.S. is still reviewing Trump-era policies toward China and there may be areas of “continuity” on certain issues. “One of them is to ensure that we are not supplying highly sensitive technology that can advance China’s military capabilities. We will be bearing down on that,” the official said. The White House didn’t comment.
The Biden administration should pursue more multilateral engagement on export controls and continue to protect sensitive U.S. technologies, the American Leadership Initiative said in a Feb. 11 summary of an upcoming report. The ALI said the White House should establish an Office of Global Digital Policy, which would dedicate resources toward federal investment in research and development, promote exports and “protect key technologies.” The office, along with a “multipronged series of investment and export controls,” will help U.S. companies better compete with Chinese technology firms that benefit from government subsidies, the ALI said.
Kevin Wolf, a former Commerce Department official, said he has not been contacted by the Biden administration about heading the Bureau of Industry and Security, despite a Feb. 6 report in the Financial Times that said Wolf is viewed as a front-runner. “I have no information,” Wolf said Feb. 8. “I do not know who [Biden] will nominate.” Wolf served as Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration under the Obama administration before joining Akin Gump as an export control and trade lawyer. The report said Biden has yet to name his choice for BIS undersecretary. The White House didn't comment.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Feb. 4 posted a new video providing guidance on applying for a license to export biological items. The roughly 10-minute video illustrates how to determine license requirements, use licensing exceptions and apply for licenses for biological items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, in the Census Bureau’s January trade newsletter, addressed several frequently asked questions about filing requirements for exports to China, Russia and Venezuela. The agency detailed how electronic export information (EEI) filing requirements apply to exports and which license exceptions are available. It also provided contact information for exporter questions. Filing requirements apply to more exports than just those captured under the agency’s April rule on exports to military end-users and for end-uses (see 2004270027), BIS said. There won’t be a new “license-type code” for EEI filings in the Automated Export System for exports controlled for anti-terrorism reasons, BIS said.
The European Union officially put in place measures to require member states to authorize shipments of COVID-19 vaccines before they can be exported (see 2101270027). The measures require “companies to notify” their member state authorities “about the intention to export vaccines produced in the European Union,” the European Commission said Jan. 29. The authorization requirement will remain in place until March 31. “This measure is targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary,” the EC said.
A Bureau of Industry and Security spokesperson dismissed criticism from national security experts that technology is moving too fast for BIS export controls (see 2101290021) and said the agency is committed to continuing its congressionally mandated emerging technology efforts. “That technology is developing quickly does not negate the imperative of appropriate export controls to prevent access by actors who would use those technologies contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” the spokesperson said in a Jan. 29 email. Although BIS has issued 38 emerging technology controls, the House’s Republican-led China Task Force last year criticized BIS for being too slow to roll out a substantial list of emerging and foundational technologies (see 2010010020). The spokesperson said BIS is still reviewing the roughly 80 comments it received on its pre-rule for foundational technologies (see 2008260045 and 2011130037).
As the European Union's vaccination effort lags behind other developed nations', the bloc threatens to implement export controls on vaccines made inside the EU to increase the number of doses available for its citizens. “In the future, all companies producing vaccines against COVID-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries,” European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said in a news release Jan. 25.
A 60-day freeze on pending rules, announced by the White House on Jan. 20, will temporarily halt the Bureau of Industry and Security push for new controls on technologies and activities that may be supporting foreign military-intelligence end-uses and end-users in China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela and other “terrorist-supporting” countries. The changes were to take effect March 16 (see 2101140035). If the Biden administration decides the rule is in line with their enforcement priorities, the rule could go forward later this year.