Longtime senior Bureau of Industry and Security official Kevin Kurland is leaving the agency next month, multiple people familiar with the matter said. A BIS official said Kurland informed senior agency staff this week that he plans to retire from government before the end of the year.
The European Commission on Nov. 17 imposed definitive safeguard measures on ferroalloys, including country-specific tariff rate quotas that limit the volume of those imports entering the EU duty-free. Certain manganese, silicon, nickel and a range of metal alloys entering at quantities above the quota volumes can enter duty-free "if their price exceeds the established threshold," but other alloys priced below the "established threshold" will pay a duty "equivalent to the difference between the net free-at-Union-frontier price and the established price threshold for each product type," the commission said. The measures will apply "indiscriminately to all third countries," including Norway and Iceland, which are part of the European Economic Area, though the commission will carry out "trimonthly consultations with Norway and Iceland" to review the impact of the measure.
President Donald Trump told reporters Nov. 17 that the U.S. will approve sales of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia. "We will be doing that. We will be selling them F-35s," he said. Saudi Arabia would be the second country in the Middle East, after Israel, to be allowed to buy F-35s, which are typically shared only with countries that have close military ties to the U.S.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has introduced a bill that would require the Defense Department to review whether a Chinese entity subject to another government agency’s restrictions should be placed on DOD’s 1260H List of Chinese military companies, his office announced Nov. 18. A second bill aims to limit the ability of Chinese companies to contest 1260H designations. The first bill, the Chinese List Entity Alignment and Review Act, or Clear Act, was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, while the second bill, the National Defense Supply Chain Act, was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The notion that the U.S. should continue to sell advanced chips to China to keep the country “hooked” on American semiconductor technology is “deeply misguided,” wrote Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, in a post for the think tank last week.
A group representing European academia and researchers is studying whether AI models can help researchers more easily determine whether their work is subject to EU export controls.
A senior Wassenaar Arrangement official pushed back on criticism against the multilateral export control body, saying it continues to function and serve as an important forum for members despite Russia’s inclusion.
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Banks and logistics providers are more frequently asking exporters about their compliance programs to certify that the goods they’re helping to move don’t violate any trade laws, said Eva Lakova, a director for sanctions and export controls with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The U.S. appeared to have underestimated or not understood the impact of the Bureau of Industry and Security 50% rule, especially the volume of license applications the agency was set to receive, said Thea Kendler, former BIS assistant secretary for export administration.