EU foreign ministers and officials this week called on the bloc to better control exports of dual-use technologies, adding that they want European nations to coordinate more closely on new restrictions and hold regular meetings to discuss “key export control policy issues.” They also want the bloc to work on a new law that would allow member states to formally adopt controls agreed to at the Wassenaar Arrangement, even if they’re blocked by Russia.
The U.S. plans to continue fine-tuning its export controls and sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow's attempts to get around them, a Biden administration official said this week.
The U.S. and other countries imposing sanctions and export controls on Russia need a more “aggressive” plan to cripple Moscow’s war effort, a group of researchers and economists said, including through tighter financial restrictions, new bans on Russian commodities and broader export controls. They also said American lawyers should have to follow strict due diligence and reporting rules when taking on clients with ties to Russia, and said the price cap on Russian oil should be lowered.
The State Department should expand a carve-out in the U.S. Munitions List to make it easier for U.S. companies to export spacecraft that refuel other ships in space, said Orbit Fab, a company that develops in-space refueling systems. Orbit Fab said the existing exemption may be outdated, and an update could better support “U.S. and allied nations efforts in space.”
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control revised its Cuba sanctions this week to loosen restrictions on a range of activities and transactions, including for certain financial and internet services. Some changes will allow certain Cuban nationals to open and remotely use U.S. bank accounts and will authorize certain Cuba-related remittances and payments that were restricted by the Trump administration.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission should push Congress to devote more funding to the Bureau of Industry and Security, Commissioner Michael Kuiken said during a commission hearing last week.
The U.S. government should combine its various export control and sanctions lists into two distinct lists, which could allow the government to better implement trade restrictions and improve industry compliance, a congressional commission heard this week. The commission also discussed whether U.S. export control agencies should have to release more information about their licensing decisions, with one witness saying more transparency would increase business certainty, while another said it would discourage candor between the government and exporters.
The U.S. government should explore the possibility of prohibiting inbound Chinese foreign direct investment in a few sensitive high-sectors to ease the workload burden on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a congressionally mandated commission heard last week.
The U.S. government should re-examine its export controls for aviation and shipbuilding to slow China’s advances in those dual-use sectors, a congressionally mandated commission heard May 23. The government also should consider more restrictions on Huawei and improve its efforts to get allies on board with U.S. export controls, the panel was told.