The Bureau of Industry and Security added 31 Chinese entities to its Unverified List last week, including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., a semiconductor firm that U.S. lawmakers for months have urged BIS to add to the more restrictive Entity List. The final rule, which took effect Oct. 7, also removed nine other entities from the UVL and included new guidance on what types of criteria and activities may lead to the transfer of UVL entries to the Entity List.
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.
A June joint alert by the Treasury and Commerce departments could signal new government expectations for banking industry sanctions compliance, experts with FTI Consulting said. The alert, which put companies and entities “on notice” about the types of red flags they should be monitoring for potential Russia sanctions and export control evasion tactics (see 2206280056, and 2207130014), may also force some financial institutions to reinforce their compliance and due-diligence processes, they said.
The Defense Department on Oct. 5 released another list of Chinese companies with ties to the country’s military. The latest tranche includes 13 companies, including businesses operating in the country's technology sectors. The list includes at least two companies that are also on the Commerce Department's Entity List: Shenzhen DJI Innovation Technology Co. (DJI) and CloudWalk Technology Co.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revised how it assesses penalties in settlements involving anti-boycott violations, according to a final rule, which, effective Oct. 7, amends a supplement to the Export Administration Regulations to clarify and change the agency’s guidance on anti-boycott charging practices to allow it to better address more serious violations.
The U.S. should harmonize the sanctions lists kept by the Commerce and Treasury departments to ensure trade and financial restrictions are imposed across the same set of companies, said Keith Krach, a former senior State Department official. Krach said all companies subject to export restrictions on the Entity List also should face strict financial sanctions on Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List to cut off any U.S. support for sanctioned companies, particularly those in China.
Michigan-based Thermotron Industries violated U.S. export controls when it shipped a controlled environmental test chamber to South Korea without a license, the Bureau of Industry and Security said in an enforcement order released this week. BIS said Thermotron, an environmental test equipment manufacturer, exported the test chamber in 2012 despite it being subject to missile technology controls and subject to a license requirement under Export Control Classification Number 9B106.
Flexport violated the Shipping Act when it failed to include required information on more than $100,000 worth of detention and demurrage charge invoices, Indiana-based Philip Reinisch Co. said in a recent complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. Philip Reinisch said the FMC should order Flexport to refund more than $55,000 in paid invoices, award it damages for the “wrongful withholding” of containers and nullify nearly $50,000 in outstanding charges.
If Republicans retake control of the House after the midterm elections in November, the chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee will initiate a review of the Bureau of Industry and Security and its export control procedures, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. McCaul said the review would examine BIS’ progress in restricting emerging and foundational technologies under the Export Control Reform Act and study whether U.S. export control authority should be moved to a different agency.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined Washington-based Tango Card $116,048.60 for violating U.S. sanctions as a result of its “deficient geolocation identification processes,” the agency said last week. OFAC said Tango Card, an electronic gift and reward services company, violated U.S. sanctions related to the Crimea region of Ukraine and sanctions imposed against Cuba, Iran, Syria and North Korea.
The U.S. last week announced a host of new sanctions and export controls against Russia, targeting Russian defense and technology companies, Russian government officials and various suppliers for supporting the country's military. The measures include hundreds of new designations and 57 additions to the Entity List, most of which will be subject to certain foreign direct product rule restrictions.