In the Dec. 30 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The Commerce Department is seeking new members for its seven technical advisory committees to advise the agency on export controls and exporting issues within U.S. industries, Commerce said in a Dec. 31 notice. This includes Commerce’s upcoming Emerging Technology TAC, which is expected to hold its first meeting in early 2020 (see 1911200045). For each of its TACs, Commerce is looking for industry representatives from firms producing items that are currently controlled or proposed for control for national security, non-proliferation, foreign policy or short supply reasons. The agency said it is looking for members from both small and large companies, but no member may represent a company that is majority owned by a “foreign government entity.” Members must also obtain “secret-level clearances” before being appointed and serve terms “of not more than four consecutive years.” Applicants should send a resume to Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov. The notice of recruitment will be open until Dec. 31, 2020.
The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ interim final rule (see 1912230052) to define activities that are not exports, re-exports or retransfers will significantly reduce regulatory and compliance burdens surrounding encrypted data, a law firm and export consulting firm said. In a long-awaited move, the rule will better facilitate international data storage subject to both the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations.
Japan’s foreign minister touted the U.S.-Japan trade deal (see 1912040008) as one of the main successes of 2019 in his year-end remarks, saying the negotiations were “extremely difficult” and the deal’s implications were “deep,” according to an unofficial translation of a transcript. “This significance is so great,” the minister said during a Dec. 27 press conference. The minister said Japan plans to “build” on the agreement in 2020 and “stably develop Japan-U.S. economic relations, one of the important pillars of the Japan-U.S. alliance.” Trade groups have urged both countries to continue negotiating toward a more comprehensive deal (see 1912050058).
Along with sanctions related to Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline (see 1912190075), the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act includes a prohibition on Venezuela-related procurement actions and additional measures against Turkey, North Korea and Syria, according to a Dec. 27 post from Crowell & Moring.
More than half of the sanctions-related enforcement actions issued by the Treasury Department in 2019 involved supply chain violations, signaling that supply chain compliance is one of the most important factors in avoiding violations, according to a December report released by Kharon, a sanctions advisory firm. The penalties are mostly due to deficiencies in three main areas of supply chain compliance, Kharon said: companies that operated in “heightened-risk jurisdictions,” companies that operated “existing and newly acquired” foreign subsidiaries, and companies that showed deficiencies while monitoring actors in its supply chain.
The National People's Congress Standing Committee of China will consider a draft law on export controls, Xinhua reported on Dec. 24. The draft would add new limits on “the export of special items including nuclear and biological materials as well as weapons, aiming to fulfill the country's international obligations of non-proliferation and protect the nation's security and development interests,” the state-run news outlet said. The law would also require “the supervision of the entire export process including transit and transshipment as well as re-export,” according to the report.
A lack of export control harmonization and an uneven playing field across the European Union are increasingly hurting Europe’s semiconductor industry, said Aude Jalabert, a trade compliance manager for Infineon Technologies and a member of the European Semiconductor Industry Association. The export licensing and control regimes across EU member states are mainly marred by inconsistencies, language barriers and a lack of staffing, Jalabert said.
President Donald Trump signed the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, S. 1790 into law, with provisions targeting tech companies Huawei and ZTE (see 1912130027), the White House announced on Dec. 20. The law bars the Trump administration from lifting the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's addition of Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei to its export entity blacklist without congressional approval. The law also requires reports to Congress on waivers issued to companies doing business with Huawei as well as ZTE's compliance with a 2018 agreement that lifted Commerce's ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade updated its firearms export control forms, according to a Dec. 23 notice. The forms contain information on various export licenses used by the country’s firearms and ammunition exporters.