The U.S. is imposing additional sanctions and new export controls following Russia's "further invasion of Ukraine," as promised by President Biden in his Feb. 22 speech (see 2202220003). The sanctions cover financial restrictions on Russian state-owned enterprises, banks, and individuals, while the export controls set restrictions on a variety of high-tech products. The new measures are part of an "unprecedented level of multilateral cooperation" according to the White House.
The Commerce and Treasury Departments announced a raft of new export controls and sanctions measures against Russia in press releases issued Feb. 24 following White House remarks by President Joe Biden. The measures include export control license requirements for a broad swath of the Commerce Control List, and the expansion of sanctions, including to entities in Belarus. The Bureau of Industry and Security also released a final rule on the export control changes, which take effect Feb. 24.
The Census Bureau Feb. 18 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 515 is a fatal error for when the Export Control Classification Number wasn’t reported in the right format. The ECCN must be reported in a “NANNN format, where N is a numeric character and A is an alpha character,” the agency said. Census said the filer should verify the ECCN, correct the shipment and resubmit.
In her first public remarks since joining the Bureau of Industry and Security, Thea Kendler said BIS has been constantly looking for new emerging technologies that should be subject to controls and is close to publishing its first foundational technology rule. Kendler, who was confirmed last month as assistant secretary for export administration, also said she plans to prioritize multilateral export controls that protect American technology from China’s military and wants to work closely with industry so those controls don’t harm U.S. competitiveness.
As the U.S. and the European Union both prepare their own set of Russian sanctions and export controls, a senior U.S. official said the measures may not be identical but will align very closely to avoid hurting the competitiveness of U.S. firms. Peter Harrell, a National Security Council official, also said the trade restrictions won’t amount to an embargo against “everyday” Russian consumers, and will likely include exemptions and a wind-down period.
The Census Bureau will make several changes to the Automated Export System to accommodate the Commerce Department’s new Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE) license exception, Census said in a Jan. 7 email. Among the changes, the agency will add new Export Control Classification Numbers 4A005 and 4D004 and will create new License Code C64 for the ACE exception.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed its temporary export control on certain artificial intelligence software as it prepares to make the classification permanent, BIS said in a notice. The temporary control -- first issued in January 2020 (see 2001030024), extended last year (see 2101050018) and renewed for a second time this week -- placed unilateral restrictions on geospatial imagery software by adding it to the 0Y521 Temporary Export Control Classification Numbers Series. The latest one-year renewal is effective Jan. 6.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including a new mention of an export control rule for crime-control items and a rule that would reorganize provisions of the foreign direct product rule in federal regulations.
The Commerce Department will soon launch a new feature to automatically warn filers if they are exporting a controlled item without a license, an improvement the agency hopes leads to better due diligence among exporters. The agency will deploy the Automated Export System feature Jan. 13, 2022, the Census Bureau said in a Dec. 6 email to industry. The announcement has been expected since October (see 2110180027). The new feature will alert exporters that incorrectly list License Requirement NLR (No License Required) for shipments that require a license under the Export Administration Regulations. The message will appear with the response code 66Q and will serve as a warning message to filers for the first six months after the Jan. 13 effective date, Census said. After the six-month period, the agency will upgrade the warning to a “fatal” error, which will block the exporter from moving forward with the filing. Exporters having difficulties with the error message or reporting their information correctly but still receiving the message should email the Bureau of Industry and Security at ECDOEXS@bis.doc.gov, Census said. Exporters should ask about the Export Control Classification Number associated with their export and any other “additional licensing authorization that may be required,” Census said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is proposing to clarify and expand restrictions on using License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (see 2109130013), which it hopes will reduce exporter “confusion” and better control certain sensitive technologies, BIS said Oct. 21.