The Bureau of Industry and Security is considering requesting public comments on new export controls for certain brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. The agency sent the pre-rule for interagency review Oct. 5 and said it hopes to determine whether BCI represents an emerging technology important to U.S. national security and whether “effective controls can be implemented.”

Although U.S. traders would widely welcome the U.S. rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, industry officials are disappointed with the country’s lack of urgency on the trade pact and don't expect the Biden administration to prioritize the deal before its term ends. While they said mini trade deals, such as the 2020 agreement with Japan (see 1912050058), can serve as “short-term” bandages, they aren’t nearly enough to make up for the benefits U.S. traders would have received under TPP.

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The export control jurisdiction for exports of deuterium for non-nuclear end-uses will transfer from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Bureau of Industry and Security, BIS said in notice. While those exports will be controlled under the Export Administration Regulations, BIS stressed that deuterium exports intended for nuclear end-uses will still be subject to the NRC’s export licensing jurisdiction. BIS has been considering the change, which will take effect Dec. 6, since at least June (see 2109240011).

The Biden administration plans to revisit its phase one trade deal with China and will continue closely scrutinizing Chinese investments that seek to acquire sensitive U.S. technologies, senior officials said this week. The officials, speaking about the U.S.’s monthslong review of its China trade relationship, said China hasn’t met its phase one purchase commitments and stressed that all of its trade tools “are on the table” as they look to enforce the deal.

The Bureau of Industry and Security will add export controls on certain biological equipment software that may be exploited for biological weapons purposes (see 2109290011), the agency said in an Oct. 5 final rule. The rule, issued in proposed form in November 2020, will align U.S. controls with the multilateral Australia Group by placing restrictions on exports of “nucleic acid assembler and synthesizer” software “capable of designing and building functional genetic elements from digital sequence data,” BIS said. The agency said the software will be added to the Commerce Control List as an emerging technology and falls under BIS’s efforts under the Export Control Reform Act (see 2109080062).

While too early to declare a success, the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council has set both sides on a path toward tangible progress on more export controls and investment screening collaboration, experts said. During the inaugural TTC meeting last week, the U.S. and EU agreed to develop “convergent” export controls and share more information to catch malign foreign investments (see 2109290083), which could result in meaningful changes within the next year, the experts said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has faced challenges applying some of its new export control rules during the last year, including its military end-use and end-user regulations and broader semiconductor-related policies toward China, a senior BIS official said. Matt Borman, BIS’s deputy assistant secretary for export administration, said he recognizes the rules may also be causing compliance challenges for industry, and the agency is considering more guidance.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week completed an interagency review for a final rule that would expand export controls on certain biological equipment software. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Sept. 13 (see 2109140011) and completed Sept. 28, would control software “for the operation of automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” that are “capable of designing and building functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.”

The State Department is considering an open general-license concept for certain defense exports, which would allow U.S. exporters to ship to certain U.S. trading partners without having to apply for a specific license, a senior agency official said. The concept would likely begin as a pilot program, said Mike Miller, deputy assistant secretary for defense trade in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, but it's still being discussed and there isn’t yet a timetable for release.