Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 24-28 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Export compliance is never going to be perfect, panelists said, but with constant education, companies can ensure that their mistakes only warrant warning letters, not fines. The American Association of Exporters and Importers held a panel Sept. 1 about how export compliance plays out in the real world.
BIS Should Expand Huawei Exemption for Standards-Setting Bodies to Entire Entity List, Industry Says
While industry welcomed the U.S. June decision to allow companies to more easily participate in standards-setting bodies in which Huawei is a member (see 2006160035), the administration should expand the rule to exempt all businesses on the Entity List, companies and trade groups said in comments last month. If the Bureau of Industry and Security does not expand the rule, companies will still be hampered at international standards bodies and could continue to cede technology leadership to China, they said.
China revised its list of technologies subject to export controls, including some dual-use items, the country’s Commerce Ministry and Ministry of Science and Technology said Aug. 28, according to unofficial translations. The list has 53 revisions, China’s Commerce Ministry said, including the addition of export restrictions on 23 “new technology items.” The Ministry of Science and Technology provided a Chinese-language notice outlining the changes.
A U.S. website infrastructure company said the Commerce Department determined not to penalize it after the company submitted a voluntary disclosure about potential export control and filing violations. Cloudflare, based in California, submitted disclosures last year (see 1909120065) to the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau for making “incorrect” electronic export information statements and for allowing the export or “download of certain software prior to making required filings.” The company, in an Aug. 10 Securities and Exchange Commission filing, said its disclosures were “completed with no penalties” by Census in November and BIS in June.
A gaming software company said it may have violated U.S. sanctions and export reporting requirements, according to its regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unity Software, based in California, told the SEC it voluntarily disclosed possible export and sanctions violations to the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control in August. The SEC filing, dated Aug. 24, is a registration statement ahead of the company's eventual initial public offering.
Although foreign investors and U.S. exporters should be closely monitoring the Commerce Department’s effort to restrict foundational technologies, traders should not expect controls anytime soon, Sidley Austin said in an Aug. 27 post. The rulemaking process will likely take longer than Commerce’s emerging technology effort, the law firm said, which began with a 2018 pre-rule and has been criticized by industry for moving too slowly (see 1911070014).
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs began review of a proposed rule from the Bureau of Industry and Security related to its Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) license exception. The rule, which OIRA received Aug. 27, will clarify the “availability” and expand restrictions on availability of the license exception under the Export Administration Regulations.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls will hold a webinar Sept. 9 on using the Defense Export Control Compliance System licensing application, DDTC said in an Aug. 27 notice, which includes login information. The webinar will outline best practices and tips for accessing licenses and include a question-and-answer session at the end. The DDTC previously released a recording of its February webinar (see 2002280028).
The Department of Justice unsealed two indictments charging four U.S. citizens and a Chinese citizen with conspiring to buy oil from Iran to be sold to a Chinese refinery. The indictments, outlined in court records filed Aug. 25, charge all five with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and trying to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. Justice announced the charges in February (see 2002120031).