Taiwan this week expanded its export controls against Russia and Belarus to cover a range of new items that may be used for Russia’s war in Ukraine, including “high-tech” military items. The island added 52 new items to the export control list, saying they are “primarily related” to “nuclear energy substances,” chemicals, machine tools and other “miscellaneous goods and materials.” The changes took effect Jan. 4.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
New Manufacturing USA Institutes can help the semiconductor industry reduce costs and accelerate innovation, particularly in emerging technology areas that could soon be subject to export controls, chip companies and industry representatives said in comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. They also said the Commerce Department should bar foreign entities from working with Manufacturing USA Institutes if they are subject to U.S. export restrictions or have operations in certain countries, including China.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week fined a multinational Danish-based refrigeration manufacturer more than $4.3 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. Danfoss, which also sells air conditioners and other cooling and heating products, illegally directed customers in all three countries to make payments through a U.S. financial institution, OFAC said in an enforcement notice. The company also made illegal payments to entities in Iran and Syria.
The U.S. needs to “act quickly” to build a multilateral consensus on China export controls or risk other countries simply filling the vacuum left by the U.S. in China’s semiconductor market, two export control and national security policy experts said in a Dec. 30 piece for Foreign Affairs. Although U.S. officials have said they are confident an agreement with allies will soon be completed, the authors said it remains unclear whether the deal will create a “genuine, multilaterally controlled chokepoint” for advanced chip technologies.
The recent intervention by the U.S. in a Chinese foreign investment deal further highlights the Biden administration's investment review priorities and the sometimes “complicated” and “time-consuming” nature of those reviews, Vinson & Elkins said in a Dec. 27 client alert.
The U.S. may look to expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. after CFIUS determined it couldn’t intervene in China-based Fufeng Group's purchase of North Dakota farmland, law firms said this month. Congress could make a push to expand CFIUS next year, some firms suggested, especially after several lawmakers said the real estate transaction should have fallen under the committee's authority.
Hapag-Lloyd violated U.S. shipping regulations when it failed to make containers available for pickup, causing demurrage charges for Wisconsin-based logistics company M.E. Dey to exceed more than $136,000, the company said in a complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission released last week. Dey said Hapag-Lloyd’s demurrage charges were “unreasonable,” and the FMC should require the ocean carrier to pay Dey reparations.
Hong Kong-based Sterling Container Line denied allegations by U.S. logistics company SeaFair that it refused to pay for certain shipping services, saying SeaFair at times submitted inaccurate invoices and couldn’t prove they were correct. In a Dec. 26 response to the Federal Maritime Commission, Sterling said the FMC should dismiss SeaFair’s complaint for a range of reasons, including that the commission lacks the authority to award damages for a breach of contract claim.
The 2023 government spending package (see 2212200025) includes language that could eventually lead to the establishment of a formal outbound investment review mechanism. The provision, included in explanatory statements covering funding for the Treasury and Commerce departments, could speed up the administration's efforts to create the regime, which has been proposed this year in legislation by lawmakers and publicly supported by senior administration officials.
Shippers mostly supported the Federal Maritime Commission’s proposal for demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2210070079 and 2203250028), saying in comments this month the new invoice requirements will bring more transparency to the industry. But at least two carriers continued to lobby for revisions to the proposed requirements, saying they could lead to burdensome new rules and wouldn’t result in more efficient container pickups and returns.