Head of BIS to Leave Next Month

Cordell Hull, who has led the Bureau of Industry and Security for the last year (see 1911180040), will resign next month ahead of the incoming Joe Biden administration. His last day will be Dec. 4, a BIS spokesperson said. “I am proud of what we have achieved on important issues of national security at BIS and I have decided to look for the next challenge in the private sector,” Hull said in a Nov. 19 statement. “I am grateful to Secretary [Wilbur] Ross for giving me this opportunity to serve.”

Since Hull joined BIS as acting undersecretary in November 2019, the agency has pursued increased export restrictions on China, specifically in the advanced technologies and chip sectors. Some of BIS’s most notable moves during that time includes changes to the foreign direct product rule to further cut Huawei off from U.S.-origin chip products (see 2005150058), increased due diligence requirements for military-related exports (see 2007090075) and a host of new additions to the Entity List (see 2008260038 and 2007200026).

The agency also added more restrictions on emerging technologies and issued its pre-rule on foundational technologies (see 2008260045) but received criticism from industry, experts and lawmakers for moving too slowly on the controls (see 2010010020). Hull’s resignation was first reported by Reuters.