China appears to be preparing to use its own set of extraterritorial export controls against the U.S. in response to the Biden administration’s latest chip restrictions and Entity List additions, an official with the U.S.-China Business Council said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working on a set of FAQs for its recently released China-related semiconductor export control rules (see 2412020016), which should clear up confusion about when certain new foreign direct product rule restrictions take effect and how they apply, a BIS official said this week.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is seeking public comments on an information collection involving license applications to export or temporarily import export-controlled defense articles or technical data. Companies must use Form DSP-85 to obtain permission to carry out those activities involving items covered by the U.S. Munitions List. Comments on the information collection are due Feb. 10.
House Republicans have chosen Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced a wide-ranging Hong Kong bill Dec. 9 that would, among other things, reauthorize the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act for five years.
The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Industry and Security are continuing to try to make progress on their long-awaited routed export rule, a Census official said this week.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned China-based Sichuan Silence Information Technology Company and an employee, Guan Tianfeng, for their roles in a 2020 cyber attack against U.S. critical infrastructure companies and firewalls of thousands of businesses worldwide. OFAC said the company tried to steal sensitive data, including usernames and passwords, and infect victims’ systems with ransomware. The agency added that Sichuan Silence is a cybersecurity government contractor whose “core clients” are Chinese intelligence services.
The U.K. released new data on Israel-related export licenses this week, about three months after the U.K. suspended a range of licenses for Israel over concerns they were being used to ship items for the Israeli military in Gaza (see 2409030023).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is crafting a new interim final rule titled “Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion.” BIS sent the rule for interagency review on Dec. 9. The agency didn’t release more information.
A sticking point in House-Senate negotiations over legislation to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China has been a Senate proposal to give the Securities and Exchange Commission a role, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee said Dec. 10.