The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 10 dismissed FedEx’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Industry and Security (see 1906250030), saying the shipping company failed to show that BIS was acting outside the authority of the Export Administration Regulations. The court also disagreed with FedEx’s claims that the agency was using the EAR to apply overly burdensome liability standards on carriers and impose penalties even when carriers do not have knowledge of violations.

The Bureau of Industry and Security added, revised and made technical changes to export controls in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement changes under the 2018 Wassenaar Arrangement (see 2007220015). Per a final rule released Sept. 10, BIS revised 28 Export Control Classification Numbers, altered license exceptions for four ECCNs, made technical changes to eight ECCNs and created one new ECCN for certain masks and reticles used for sensors. The rule follows a May 2019 rule that added controls to five technologies under the 2018 Wassenaar (see 1905220051).

China is growing increasingly confrontational on trade issues and may be more willing to respond to U.S. sanctions with restrictions of its own, experts told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Sept. 9. As China mulls retaliation against the U.S., the Trump administration should focus on areas in which it has leverage over China by continuing to push for purchases under the phase one trade deal and restrict Chinese attempts to develop advanced technologies, the experts said.

Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas was fined nearly $600,000 for violating the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Ukraine-related sanctions, OFAC said in a Sept. 9 notice. OFAC said the New York bank processed payments for a sanctioned oil company in Cyprus and an investment bank on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The violations were caused by poor due diligence and an incorrectly calibrated screening tool, OFAC said.

The Trump administration is considering placing export controls on China’s top chipmaker, the latest move in a campaign of restrictions aimed at Chinese technology companies. The controls would target the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation by placing it on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, Reuters said in a Sept. 4 report. The effort is being spearheaded by the Defense Department, the report said, which petitioned Commerce’s End User Committee last week to add SMIC to the Entity List.

Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for Aug. 31-Sept. 4 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

The Bureau of Industry and Security ought to make available information that is more specific to university export compliance, the Association of University Export Control Officers said in a recent letter to BIS. The letter was prompted by a May Government Accountability Office report that similarly said more guidance for universities would be helpful (see 2005120053). “While it is possible for universities to glean some needed information from outreach materials and training geared toward industry, it can be difficult at times to interpret industry-focused guidance to the university environment,” the association said.

A long-awaited rewrite of routed export regulations by the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau will introduce a new “Export Responsibility Transfer Agreement” (ERTA) to replace the “writing” currently used to transfer filing responsibilities, with the new agreement specifically transferring filing and licensing responsibilities to the forwarder or agent of the foreign party, said Sharron Cook, a BIS senior export policy analyst, during a webcast of the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference Sept. 3.

The Trump administration “is committed to bold, decisive action” against China that protects U.S. national and economic security interests, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during a virtual Bureau of Industry and Security conference on Sept. 2. He cited as evidence BIS' s additional export restrictions on Huawei (see 2008170029) and President Donald Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order banning U.S. transactions with the parent companies of TikTok and WeChat. “We each must remain alert to China’s malign behavior and that of other foreign entities that seek our sensitive technologies to damage our economic and national security,” Ross said. “China is a capable, effective and adaptable adversary with unconstrained resources, who regularly uses our American freedom and rules-based norms to advance its goal of dominating global markets.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control will adjust for inflation some civil monetary penalties, it said in an interim final rule released Sept. 2. The changes apply to “penalties for failure to comply with certain recordkeeping and reporting requirements, which are contained in OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines in OFAC’s Reporting, Procedures and Penalties Regulations,” it said. Increases are effective Oct. 5.