The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security issued guidance Feb. 25 clarifying that the virus causing the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, will continue to be classified under the Export Control Classification Number EAR99, meaning export licenses are generally not required for exports of the virus. BIS said it issued the guidance in response to a report recently published by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which classified the virus, SARS-CoV-2, as belonging to a species similar to SARS-CoV, a virus controlled under the Export Administration Regulations under ECCN 1C351.a.46. But because SARS-CoV-2 is a “genetically distinct virus,” “causes a clinically distinct disease” and the “specifics of the disease … are still being investigated,” BIS said it considers SARS-CoV-2 to be “distinct” from SARS-CoV, adding that it does not yet warrant increased controls. BIS did warn, however, that some end-users, end-uses and destination countries may require a license for exports of EAR99 items, and exporters “should continue to screen all requests in accordance” with the Export Administration Regulations.
In the Feb. 19-24 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Commerce Department plans to hold the first meeting of its Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee this spring amid several delays in issuing prospective members their security clearances. A Bureau of Industry and Security spokesperson said the agency remains “on target” to hold the meeting before the summer despite Commerce officials originally scheduling the meeting for December, and then January, before pushing it back each time (see 2001290032).
Crowell & Moring hired Caroline Brown, who previously was an attorney at the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as a partner, the law firm said in a Feb. 20 new release. “Brown will work with financial institutions, multinational corporations, and companies launching emerging technologies to advise clients on anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance and enforcement challenges,” the firm said. “She will also help clients navigate review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).”
The Commerce Department is “nowhere near” publishing an export control rule on foundational technologies and is likely not close to releasing its advance notice of proposed rulemaking, Squire Patton Boggs trade lawyer George Grammas said. Commerce management has had a draft of the ANPRM since at least mid-2019, Grammas said. “It doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast,” he said, speaking during a Feb. 20 webinar hosted by Content Enablers. “We don’t seem to be anywhere near seeing a rule on foundational technologies in the near term.”
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated five members of Iran’s Guardian Council and its Elections Supervision Committee for interfering with free and fair elections, Treasury said in a Feb. 20 notice. The members are Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council; Mohammad Yazdi, a member of Iran’s Guardian Council who was formerly Iran’s first judiciary chief; and three members of the Elections Supervisory Committee: Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, Siamak Rahpeyk and Mohammad Hasan Sadeghi Moghadam.
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) implementation is in its early days, with new rules taking effect on Feb. 13 (see 2002110042), but it's generally assumed the number of transactions coming under Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) jurisdiction will quadruple, said David Plotinsky, DOJ National Security Division principal deputy chief, at a Federal Communications Bar Association event Feb. 19. He said the number of telecom deals subject to CFIUS also likely will quadruple, though there's less concern about deals on “the pipes” of telecom than on data. CFIUS experts said prospective deals now have to take CFIUS issues and possible mitigation steps into consideration early in the planning.
The Canadian Parliament is moving the successor to NAFTA along, so that a March ratification vote is still looking likely, news from Canada says. While the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement will be reviewed by the agriculture, natural resources and industry/science/technology committees, not just the trade committee, the other committees only have until Feb. 25 for that review, a report from ipolitics said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he doesn't think the Trump administration will ever levy an additional 25% tax on imported autos, even as President Donald Trump continues to mention that threat in an effort to get European negotiators to open up to American agriculture exports. Grassley, who was responding to a reporter's question on how to get the European Union to bend during a conference call Feb. 18, said he doesn't think the EU will negotiate much on ag.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security asked for an 8% boost in funding for the 2021 fiscal year to increase export control compliance and enforcement, bolster initiatives to counter China, and to better identify emerging and foundational technologies. BIS’s request for a $10 million budget increase, submitted to Congress last week, comes as the agency plans to roll out a series of export controls on sensitive technologies (see 1912160032), which will increase its involvement in the Trump administration's effort to sustain the U.S.'s technological advantage over China. BIS specifically asked for just over $1 million and five new positions to help it control emerging and foundational technologies and enforce those controls.