The Biden administration is planning new human rights sanctions against Chinese surveillance company Hikvision, the Financial Times reported May 4. Although the administration hasn’t yet made a “final decision” on the controls, the move would represent the “first time the U.S. has imposed such sanctions on a big Chinese technology group,” the report said. The move could have “far-reaching consequences” on companies that deal with Hikvision, the report said. Hikvision is the world’s largest surveillance equipment manufacturer. The White House didn’t comment. Hikvision was designated a Chinese military company and added to an investment ban list in 2020 (see 2011130026), and was added to the Entity List in 2019 (see 1910070076).
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security has no immediate plans to remove the virus that caused the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, from its export control classification of EAR99 (see 2002250069), a government official said. Removing the virus from EAR99 -- a classification for products that generally don't require export licenses under the Export Administration Regulations -- could subject exports of the virus to restrictions that may hinder vital information sharing or vaccine delivery, the official said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week posted its first tranche of Russia-related frequently asked questions to provide guidance on recent export control announcements. The FAQs cover license requirements, license application review policies, the agency's foreign direct product rules and de minimis rules, excluded countries, luxury goods, license exceptions and country group and country chart changes. The agency said it plans to update the guidance as it receives more questions and as new controls are announced.
John Beahn, former head of Shearman & Sterling's Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and foreign direct investment practice, has joined Milbank as a partner, the firm announced in an email. Beahn's work will center on CFIUS matters and FDI proceedings as well as national security issues, including sanctions and arms controls, the firm said.
The U.K. will investigate whether British-made weapons parts are being used by Russia in its war in Ukraine, The Guardian reported May 2. The U.K. probe stems from a report by the Royal United Services Institute, which said Ukrainian armed forces recovered Russian weapons and systems with a “‘consistent pattern’ of dependence on foreign-made components,” including from the U.K. Although the RUSI report didn’t suggest any “wrongdoing” by U.K. manufacturers, it still “raised concerns that parts made in the UK could still find their way to Russia” despite strict export controls and sanctions.
Fiji's High Court in a May 3 order gave the U.S. and local authorities permission to seize the Amadea, a $325 million mega-yacht whose ownership is in dispute. The U.S. said sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleyman Kerimov owns the yacht. A lawyer representing the company that the vessel is registered under told Bloomberg the yacht is owned by another businessman not on any sanctions lists. The High Court further gave lawyers representing this second businessman until May 4 to file a stay order, Bloomberg reported. The U.K. and the EU in March sanctioned Kerimov for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. sanctioned him in 2018.
A bill that would require the State Department to report to Congress on whether China is helping Russians "evade or circumvent United States sanctions or multilateral sanctions and export controls," or whether China is inhibiting onsite export control end-use checks within its borders, passed the House of Representatives on a 394-3 vote on April 27. The Assessing Xi’s Interference and Subversion Act was sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky. , who said after its passage, "We need a full report on the extent of the collaboration between Russia and China to inform the public and enable lawmakers to begin positioning the U.S. to overcome this geopolitical challenge.” If the bill becomes law, the first report would be due in 30 days, and then reports would be due every 90 days after that.
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PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. government is working through a range of challenges when delivering export control guidance to university researchers, government officials said, including to some colleges that opt out of certain projects rather than risk violating controls. The government is also still running into challenging questions about whether its controls should apply to fundamental research, one official said.
A lack of guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security on its recent Russia-related foreign direct product rules is creating compliance “chaos” for companies operating in the region (see 2203070039), Torres Trade Law said in an April alert. The firm said businesses have been “left to fend” for themselves “when it comes to compliance with the new FDP rules,” partly because BIS hasn’t yet published any enforcement actions or settlements for either rule.