The Bureau of Industry and Security quietly revised its announcement of new guidance on Huawei Ascend chips to remove language that said using those chips “anywhere in the world” is a violation of U.S. export controls.
The White House defended its new AI partnership framework with the United Arab Emirates, saying in a statement late May 16 that the agreement “will help ensure the global AI ecosystem will be built with American chips and use American models, all while guaranteeing significant UAE investments into the United States.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to continue moving away from proposed rulemakings and instead issue most new rules as interim final or final, said two people with knowledge of the agency’s plans.
The Center for a New American Security has named Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state, and Anne Neuberger, former deputy national security adviser, to its board of directors. Both Campbell and Neuberger join CNAS after serving in the Biden administration. Campbell helped oversee U.S. efforts to reduce defense trade restrictions with Australia and the U.K. under the AUKUS partnership (see 2404030050 and 2409180025) and worked on Russia-related sanctions issues (see 2407300033).
The U.K. last week launched the Ministry of Defense security approval form 680 (F680) for its new online export licensing system. “This will allow applications for F680s to move away from the current system, SPIRE,” or the Shared Primary Information Resource Environment (see 2411080020).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is allowing for another 30 days of public comments on an information collection related to declarations to the Chemical Weapons Convention. BIS previously asked for feedback on the information collection in March (see 2503060007). Each CWC member must make “initial and annual declarations on certain facilities” that produce, import or export certain toxic chemicals and their precursors, and facilities subject to inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons must also submit certain information.
Former airline executive Skye Xu was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud Polar Air Cargo Worldwide of more than $32 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on May 15. Xu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, introduced joint resolutions of disapproval May 15 aimed at blocking $1.4 billion in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates. The lawmakers said the UAE is fueling Sudan’s civil war by providing weapons to the Rapid Support Forces militia, which is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (see 2505130008).
Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and John Curtis, R-Utah, introduced a bill May 14 that would require the president to determine whether certain judges and other officials in Hong Kong violated human rights and should face sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act or the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a bill May 15 that would put China’s Institute of Forensic Science (IFS) back on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List.