The Commerce Department is investigating Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed for potentially helping Chinese companies evade U.S. export controls on sensitive Nvidia chips, The New York Times reported last week. Megaspeed is reportedly poised to buy $2 billion of Nvidia AI technology over the next year, and the Commerce probe is looking into whether it has been indirectly funneling some of those chips to China, including to data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia that appear to be remotely serving Chinese customers. "U.S. officials have also been scrutinizing whether Megaspeed diverted some of those chips on to China, in violation of U.S. law," the report said.

President Donald Trump reacted angrily to China's plan to expand export restrictions, including when rare earths are in products made abroad (see 2510090021. In a social media post that seemed to trigger a 2.7% drop in the S&P 500, he wrote, "Dependent on what China says about the hostile 'order' that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two."

The U.S. should impose new chip-related export controls on China in response to Beijing’s new rules last week that will restrict overseas exports if they contain certain levels of Chinese-origin material (see 2510090021), a former senior U.S. national security official said.

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation last week updated its open general license for certain trade among the AUKUS nations of Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. The update includes new text on the "Authorised User Community and clarification on F680 requirements," the U.K. said. "It also makes updates to the items not permitted by the licence, including additional nerve agents, prototypes for naval nuclear propulsion plant, test and maintenance equipment and test models for naval nuclear propulsion plant and prototypes."

Exporters shouldn’t assume that the AUKUS initiative between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. will continue in its current form, even though the Trump administration has made mostly positive comments about the agreement, said Charles Edel, the Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a Senate floor speech Oct. 6 that she welcomes Australia’s decision in July to lift import restrictions on U.S. beef (see 2507270004), and she believes other American agricultural products, including soybeans and corn, “need the same kind of breakthrough.” She later told Export Compliance Daily she is working with the Trump administration to address her concerns.

Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) is reviewing a recent report by the House Select Committee on China that calls for reducing exports of chipmaking equipment to China (see 2510070029), a company spokesperson said in a statement late Oct. 7. “TEL is fully aware of the importance of semiconductors to national security and complies with all applicable export control regulations that govern our business.” The report said existing U.S. and allied export controls have failed to stop China from buying “vast quantities of highly sophisticated” semiconductor manufacturing equipment it could use to advance its chipmaking, military and surveillance capabilities.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed from the Specially Designated Nationals List a Turkey-based entity that had originally been targeted for posing a Russia-related secondary sanctions risk. The agency deleted three aliases for the entity known as North Star Shipyard, Kuzey Star Shipyard Denizcilik Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, and Kuzey Star Shipyard Maritime Industry and Trade Inc. OFAC didn't provide more information.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six people and two entities that it said are helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions and smuggle weapons or that have ties to corruption in Iraq.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more than 50 people, entities and ships for helping move and sell Iranian oil and liquefied petroleum gas, earning the Iranian government "billions of dollars" for its support of terrorism, the agency said. The designations targeted nearly two dozen shadow fleet vessels and their owners, a China-based crude oil terminal, a Chinese refinery and others.