President Joe Biden has yet to choose a leader for the Bureau of Industry and Security, leaving the agency without a clear direction as it considers competing visions for the direction of American technology policy. The rival factions seeking to influence Biden’s choice underscore how much of an outsized role the once relatively unknown agency will play in implementing the Commerce Department’s efforts to outpace China in emerging technologies and control what lawmakers say is an overdue set of critical technologies.
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published an update to its sanctions on ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida, amending the entry for Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. In an April 7 trade notice, OFSI noted that Ba'asyir was released from prison in Indonesia on Jan. 8, 2021, after serving his sentence.
India's state-run oil refiners are preparing to buy Iranian crude oil due to expectations that the new U.S. administration will ease sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation, according to a senior oil ministry representative, Bloomberg reported April 8. Indian refiners are making preparations so that purchasing contracts can be quickly executed when sanctions are lifted. Preparations include drafting commercial terms and enacting a system to quickly assess crude quality, the outlet reported. The desire for Iranian oil comes from India's dissatisfaction about the prices of oil from Saudi Arabia. Indian refiners have been buying oil from Guyana and Norway while also importing more from the U.S. India imports more than 85% of its total oil, Bloomberg said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Myanma Gems Enterprise, a state-owned entity responsible for “all gemstone activities” in Myanmar, OFAC said April 8. The agency said gemstones are a “key economic resource” for the Myanmar military regime “that is violently repressing pro-democracy protests in the country.”
Officials from the Commerce, Energy and State departments held a virtual event with Malaysian government officials this week to commend Malaysia’s efforts to implement strategic export controls. The event was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Malaysia’s Strategic Trade Act, which provides a “strong regulatory framework” for export controls, Jeremy Pelter, acting undersecretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security, said in an April 8 statement. The U.S. agencies said they remain “committed to advancing strategic trade control cooperation now and into the future.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security added Myanmar to its list of countries subject to military intelligence end-use and end-user (MIEU) controls, the agency said in a notice. It also made several technical corrections to the original MIEU rule, which was issued in January and took effect March 16 (see 2101140035). The interim final rule takes effect April 9.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added seven Chinese entities to the Entity List for procuring U.S.-origin items in a way that harms U.S. national security, BIS said in an April 8 final rule. The seven “supercomputing entities” also support China’s military and help it develop modern weapons, the Commerce Department said.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee released bipartisan legislation that it said will better position the U.S. to compete with China and penalize Chinese human rights abuses. The more than 200-page Strategic Competition Act of 2021, released April 8, would authorize a host of U.S. measures to tackle trade and technology competition issues with China, including sanctions, export controls and increased cooperation with allies on investment screenings. The bill focuses on countering China’s “predatory international economic behavior” and represents an “unprecedented” bipartisan effort, committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said. Menendez said the bill has the support to be “overwhelmingly approved” by the committee next week and the full Senate “shortly thereafter.”
The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced changes to its sanctions on Yemen and the Central African Republic: an amendment to the entry for Sultan Saleh Aida Aida Zabin, the director of Yemen's Criminal Investigation Department, in an April 6 notice; and removal of the Bureau D'Achat de Diamant en Centrafrique/Kardiam of the Central African Republic from the sanctions list, meaning it is no longer subject to an asset freeze, in a separate April 6 notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments on the agency’s information collection requirements in its Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations, OFAC said in a notice released April 7. The information collection covers reports required by OFAC that are reviewed by the Department of the Treasury and may be used for compliance, civil penalty and enforcement purposes by the agency. Comments are due June 7.