The Bureau of Industry and Security added 13 Chinese entities to the Entity List that are involved in developing advanced computing semiconductors that may be used for activities that threaten U.S. national security, the agency announced this week. Each of the entities will be subject to license requirements for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, including BIS foreign direct product rule restrictions. Licenses will be reviewed under a presumption of denial.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week released a range of updates to its Oct. 7, 2022, China chip controls, unveiling two rules that will impose new license requirements on additional chips and chipmaking tools, make revisions to its U.S. persons restrictions, expand licensing requirements for exports of certain chipmaking items to U.S. arms-embargoed countries, create a new notification requirement and introduce other measures to address export control circumvention risks.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls sent a final rule for interagency review that could make certain export control changes to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The rule is expected to finalize an April interim final rule that removed export controls from certain high-energy storage capacitors (see 2304260017).
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week completed a round of interagency review for an interim final rule that could update U.S. export controls on semiconductor manufacturing items. The rule underwent some changes during interagency review, which began Oct. 4 and was completed Oct. 13 (see 2310050015). The rule is distinct from the upcoming BIS rule that will finalize its Oct. 7, 2022, chip controls related to China (see 2310110030).
The U.S. has little room to expand sanctions against Hamas, but it could look to track down and designate additional front companies the terror group uses to fund its activities, said Jason Prince, former chief counsel at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Although OFAC has general licenses in place to authorize a broad range of humanitarian-related transactions involving Palestine, Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization could make some financial institutions less willing to approve those aid-related transactions, Prince said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security today will release a range of updates to its 2022 China chip rule, including new restrictions on several dozen additional chip tools and related items, updated export control parameters for chips used in artificial intelligence applications, a novel notification requirement for certain “gray-zone” chips that fall just below that updated threshold, a new license requirement for chip exports to companies headquartered in nations subject to a U.S. arms embargo and more. BIS also added 13 Chinese companies to the Entity List, effective Oct. 17, for developing advanced chips in ways BIS said are contrary to U.S. national security.
The Bureau of Industry and Security officially released the texts of two rules to update its Oct. 7, 2022, China chip controls, including an interim final rule that will update controls on certain semiconductor manufacturing items and another interim final rule that will update restrictions on certain advanced computing items, supercomputer and semiconductor end-uses and make other updates and corrections.
A U.K. appeals court last week granted an injunction blocking a Gazprom subsidiary from suing its lenders in a Russian court over an abandoned gas project. The England and Wales Court of Appeal said it was the proper place to bring RusChemAlliance's claim against Germany-based Deutsche Bank, adding that there was no good reason not to impose the injunction.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 13 expanded its general sanctions license covering payments to utility companies for gas and electricity by sanctioned parties who own or rent in the U.K. Originally set to expire on Oct. 16, the license no longer has an expiry date, the agency said. Additionally, the agency amended the license to allow a person to make permitted payments for or on behalf of a designated party.
Logistics companies, especially those based in China, should closely examine their U.S. export control risks, particularly after the Commerce Department added a range of Chinese logistics firms to the Entity List earlier this month for their involvement in microelectronics exports to Russia (see 2310060044), major Asian law firm King & Wood Mallesons said in a client alert last week.