The Bureau of Industry and Security added 29 entities to the Entity List, including three addresses, for either helping to illegally supply U.S.-origin items to Iran or for their ties to Iranian procurement networks, BIS said in a final rule released and effective Oct. 8. BIS said the entities supplied or diverted aircraft parts, drone components, electronic items and other products to Iran, including to Iranian companies already on the Entity List or the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List.

Treasury Department official Derek Theurer has been appointed to perform the duties of deputy secretary, the agency announced Oct. 7. Michael Faulkender, who received Senate confirmation as Treasury's deputy secretary in March (see 2503270007), reportedly left the department in August.

The European Commission announced a new proposal Oct. 6 to shrink the size of its tariff-rate quota for steel to 18.3 million tons a year and double the tariff rate for out-of-quota steel to 50%. The proposal would decrease the quota by 47% from 2024 and double the current 25% tariff rate applicable to out-of-quota steel.

The Latvian State Security Service (VDD) has asked to begin a criminal prosecution of two Latvian nationals for providing prohibited project management services to Russian companies, violating European Union sanctions, it announced Oct. 1.

Japan is reimposing certain sanctions against Iran following the U.N.'s move last month to reimpose Iranian restrictions that were paused after the 2015 nuclear deal (see 2510010018 and 2508280033), according to an unofficial translation of a notice from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The designations target 78 entities and 43 people for their involvement in "Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities and the development of nuclear weapons delivery means," Japan said. The measures also include certain investment restrictions, import bans and prohibitions on fund transfers.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has restored limited access to its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) amid the government shutdown. While DECCS users still cannot make new submissions or updates, they can view their completed submissions in read-only mode.

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 clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

U.S. and allied export controls have failed to stop China from buying “vast quantities of highly sophisticated” semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) it could use to advance its chipmaking capabilities and bolster its military and surveillance apparatus, the House Select Committee on China said in a new report Oct. 7.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding 26 entities to the Entity List for illegally supplying aircraft parts, drone components, electronic items and other products to Iran, and the agency is adding three addresses to the list for links to an Iranian procurement network. Nineteen of the new entries are based in China, nine are in Turkey and one is in the United Arab Emirates, BIS said in a final rule released and effective Oct. 8. They will be subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and licenses will be reviewed under a presumption of denial.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 29 upheld the Office of Foreign Assets Control's addition of Iranian company Bahman Group to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. Judge Randolph Moss held that OFAC's denial of Bahman's delisting petition wasn't impermissibly predetermined, finding that even if OFAC's decision could be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act for being pre-decided, "the record offers no basis for concluding that OFAC’s decision-making in this case was pretextual or irredeemably biased under any standard" (Bahman Group v. Lisa Palluconi, D.D.C. # 22-3826).