Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 19-23 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

China has met 71% of its 2020 purchase goals for U.S. agricultural commodities under the phase one trade deal, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in an “interim report.” The Oct. 23 report, released 11 days before the election, said the U.S. is on track for its “best year ever in sales to China.”

CBP and industry had very little time to react to an executive order earlier this year that authorized export restrictions on certain medical equipment (see 2004080018) and had to scramble to adjust to new protocols, said Paulette Kolba, an export compliance consultant. Kolba, speaking during an Oct. 23 session of the Western Cargo Conference, said the abrupt restrictions were representative of a challenging year for export compliance professionals, who have had to deal with a range of regulatory changes and new compliance requirements.

In a think tank effort that seems to assume a change in Washington, though never explicitly says it, the Peterson Institute for International Economics says there should be a return to more conservative use of export controls and entity lists to manage the threat of Chinese access to advanced technology for nefarious purposes. Martin Chorzempa, a PIIE research fellow, discussed a memo he authored to a future Commerce undersecretary for export controls in the next administration, during an Oct. 22 webinar at PIIE.

The State Department is close to publishing the first in a series of rules to reorganize the International Traffic in Arms Regulations after months of legal reviews (see 1907120011) and a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2005080038), an agency official said. The first rule, part of a larger reorganization effort led by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, will tackle the organization of definitions in the ITAR. Other rules will consolidate exemptions and streamline licensing requirements and policies.

The U.S. should sign a trade deal with Taiwan and increase cooperation on export controls, similar to U.S. partnerships with Japan and Australia, Asia experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. Increased collaboration with Taiwan has strong support from Congress and the Taiwanese government, the experts said, and would make sense as the U.S. welcomes manufacturing and investment from Taiwan.

Like-minded democracies should establish a global technology alliance to safeguard sensitive technologies and improve export restrictions, technology and trade experts said. The alliance -- which would initially include Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the U.S. -- should act to increase export controls on critical technologies and work to counter China’s illegal technology transfers and operations at international standards-setting bodies.

Tension in relations on technology issues between the U.S. and China over data security, privacy and telecom gear are making life complicated for some American companies, experts told the Technology Policy Institute Aspen Forum. They generally agreed that aspects of the current U.S. approach may be unique to this administration and may have shortcomings. Neither the White House nor China's embassy in Washington commented Oct. 21, when the TPI video was released as part of its ongoing conference.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Oct. 13-16 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Berkshire Hathaway will pay $4.1 million after its subsidiary illegally exported more than 140 shipments of cutting tools to Iran, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an Oct. 20 notice. Iscar Kesici Takim Ticareti ve Imalati Limited Sirket (Iscar Turkey), Berkshire’s Turkish subsidiary, hid the exports from its parent company, which resulted in more than $350,000 worth of orders going to Iranian end-users. Along with the fine, Berkshire committed to a range of sanctions compliance procedures in a settlement agreement with OFAC and will annually certify for the next five years that it is meeting its compliance obligations.