The Bureau of Industry and Security sent a proposed rule for interagency review that would impose export controls on certain additive manufacturing equipment used to “print energetic materials and related software and technology.” The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs July 23, would revise the Commerce Control List to classify the equipment as an emerging technology as BIS seeks to propose the equipment for multilateral control at the Wassenaar Arrangement. BIS said Export Administration Regulations define energetic materials as “substances or mixtures that react chemically to release the energy required for their intended application,” and subclasses include explosives, pyrotechnics and propellants. The rule will request public comments so the scope of the proposed controls “will be effective and appropriate,” BIS said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region, the agency said in a final rule. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The final rule takes effect June 24.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will on June 24 add five Chinese companies to the Entity List for their involvement in the government’s human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region. For each of the entities, BIS will impose a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Items classified under several Export Control Classification Numbers will be subject to a case-by-case review policy, but all other exports will be subject to a presumption of denial. No license exceptions will be available.
The Commerce Department published its spring 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including two new mentions of emerging technology rules and new export controls on certain camera systems.
3M, a U.S. producer of aluminum oxide fibers, announced that its “Nextel 312 ceramic fibers and textiles” were removed from export control license requirements due to a Commerce Department final rule published in March (see 2103260019). The rule made several revisions to the agency’s Commerce Control List to implement changes made during the 2019 Wassenaar Arrangement and removed license requirements for a range of Nextel 312 products, including Nextel 312 “fibers, rovings, yarns, sewing threads, tapes, sleevings, and fabrics,” 3M said June 2. The products are “now available globally,” the company said, “reducing previous barriers that slowed down global customer adoption.”
The 22 states, along with Washington, D.C., that challenged the Trump administration's decision to transfer "ghost gun" blueprints from the U.S. Munitions List to the less-restrictive Commerce Control List will not seek a review of the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit's decision to greenlight the move. According to a May 18 consent motion, lawyers for the State Department and the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls requested that the court immediately issue the mandate in the case, claiming that they received the go-ahead from the plaintiffs. Brendan Selby, counsel for the plaintiff State of Washington, told the defense that the states consent to the "immediate issuance of the mandate."
The U.S. issued guidance last week to address industry uncertainty and a rising number of questions about export licensing jurisdiction for goods sent under its Foreign Military Sales Program. The guidance -- which includes frequently asked questions developed by Homeland Security, CBP and the Commerce, State and Defense departments -- was issued because the agencies “continue to receive questions” about exports that were moved from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List but are exported under FMS authority. They said exporters are “having difficulty” understanding how Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations, the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the FMS Program “relate to each other” for goods that have recently transitioned from the ITAR to the EAR.
The State Department fined a U.S. aerospace and technology company $13 million for illegally exporting technical data to several countries, including China, according to a May 3 order. Honeywell International sent drawings of parts for military-related items, including for engines of military jets and bombers, the agency said, all of which were controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. After discovering the violations, issuing a self-disclosure to the State Department and bolstering its compliance program, the company again illegally exported technical drawings, failing to abide by its improved compliance requirements, the order said.
Although a court opinion last week cleared the way for exports of 3D-printed guns to be removed from State Department jurisdiction, the guns will continue to be covered under the agency’s U.S. Munitions List until the ruling is made official, the State Department said.
Semiconductor industry officials are preparing to push for export control modernization over certain electronics on the Commerce Control List, which they say will help controls avoid unintended consequences on U.S. companies and more accurately reflect national security concerns. The effort, led by the Semiconductor Industry Association, will look to convince the Bureau of Industry and Security to update certain control parameters and definitions, and make technical changes in Category 3 of the CCL, which officials view as out of date.