The Commerce Department should conduct a “comprehensive evaluation” of the export controls it has imposed on the U.S. semiconductor industry in recent years to determine whether they are achieving their goal of protecting national security, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security said April 24 that it added 18 entities to its Unverified List after it was unable to verify the “legitimacy and reliability” of the parties through end-use checks, including their ability to responsibly receive controlled U.S. exports. It also removed five companies from the list. The added entities are located in China, Finland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the U.K., while the removed ones are in China and the United Arab Emirates.

Thea Kendler, former assistant secretary for export administration at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, and Aiysha Hussain, Kendler's senior policy adviser, have joined Mayer Brown as partners in the international trade, national security and white-collar defense practices, the firm announced. Kendler served at BIS for three years, joining the agency from DOJ, where she worked as a trial attorney in the national security division. Hussain worked at Commerce since 2020, serving as senior counsel then senior policy adviser for export administration.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has released in the Federal Register its Section 301 determination on U.S. shipbuilding (see 2504180018), meaning that it has confirmed the timelines for when the U.S. government will collect fees on foreign-built vessels docking at U.S. ports. Fee collection will begin Oct. 14.

The Federal Maritime Commission’s chief administrative law judge ordered ocean carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping Services April 22 to pay Samsung Electronics America $3.68 million for charging demurrage fees that violate the Shipping Act.

The congressionally mandated National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology recommended in a report this month that lawmakers pass legislation to prevent U.S. outbound investment from supporting China’s development of biotechnology that could harm national security.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Stuart Young that he will work very closely with Young's administration "to find a solution that achieves U.S. objectives regarding Venezuela without harming Trinidad and Tobago."

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iranian national and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network April 22, saying they shipped hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets, which generated revenue for Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and terrorism proxies.

The Trump administration hasn't yet indicated what it wants to do about the roughly $300 billion in Russian assets that the U.S. and its allies froze after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Brookings Institution said in a commentary April 16.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.