Beijing has launched a "special operation" to crack down on illegal exports of critical minerals, such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten and other rare earths, according to an unofficial translation of a May 9 Ministry of Commerce notice. The ministry said China's Office of the National Export Control Coordination Mechanism gathered agencies for a meeting to discuss how they can better stop export smuggling, specifically pointing to "overseas entities" that "have colluded with domestic illegal personnel" to evade Chinese export controls.
Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., and Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill late last month that would restrict exports of electronic waste, such as old cell phones and computers. The legislation seeks to prevent such waste from being sent to countries that would discard the materials in an environmentally harmful way or turn them into counterfeit electronics that would then be re-sold. The Secure E-Waste Export and Recycling Act (SEERA), which was previously re-introduced in the last Congress, was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rep. Andrew Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a bill May 8 that would require a license requirements exception for certain advanced integrated circuits exports to Israel. The legislation was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ogles’ office did not respond to a request for more information.
Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., introduced a bill May 7 that would require the administration to write a report to Congress on Hong Kong’s role in export control and sanctions evasion. The Stop Corrupt Communist Party Money Laundering Act, or Stop CCP Money Laundering Act, also would direct the Treasury Department to determine whether Hong Kong is a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. The bill, which was referred to the House Financial Services and Foreign Affairs committees, is a companion to legislation that Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced in April (see 2504080060).
The Swiss president told reporters in Bern that her country would put together a letter of intent within two weeks, in the hopes of reaching an "agreement in principle" with the U.S., like the U.K. did (see 2505080033), and thereby avoid 31% reciprocal tariffs set to begin July 9.
The 10% tariff on the first 100,000 autos exported annually from the U.K. will be "all-in," according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. CBP couldn't clarify whether that would be done by removing most favored nation duties on U.K. autos and then applying a 10% tariff rate, or whether the additional tariff rate for in-quota autos would be 7.5%.
The full European Parliament last week voted to expand the bloc’s foreign direct investment screening rules, which would add more sectors to the scope of restrictions and allow the European Commission to intervene in member state disagreements.
The U.K. on May 9 added five people and four entities to the Russia sanctions list. The entities are Russian energy companies BX Energy and Nord Axis and financial service companies Romarine and Soglasie Insurance Co. Ltd. The individuals are the following five executives at sanctioned Russian energy company Coral Energy Group: Etibar Eyyub, Tahir Garayev, Ahmed Kerimov, Anar Madatli and Talat Safarov.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill last week that would require export-controlled advanced computing chips to contain location verification mechanisms to prevent their diversion to “adversaries” such as China.
The Trump administration’s request for an increased budget allocation for the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 2505020030) signals that export enforcement will be one of the administration's top priorities, said Gregory Allen, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.