Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 24-28 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

While industry welcomed the U.S. June decision to allow companies to more easily participate in standards-setting bodies in which Huawei is a member (see 2006160035), the administration should expand the rule to exempt all businesses on the Entity List, companies and trade groups said in comments last month. If the Bureau of Industry and Security does not expand the rule, companies will still be hampered at international standards bodies and could continue to cede technology leadership to China, they said.

Export compliance is never going to be perfect, panelists said, but with constant education, companies can ensure that their mistakes only warrant warning letters, not fines. The American Association of Exporters and Importers held a panel Sept. 1 about how export compliance plays out in the real world.

A gaming software company said it may have violated U.S. sanctions and export reporting requirements, according to its regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unity Software, based in California, told the SEC it voluntarily disclosed possible export and sanctions violations to the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control in August. The SEC filing, dated Aug. 24, is a registration statement ahead of the company's eventual initial public offering.

Although foreign investors and U.S. exporters should be closely monitoring the Commerce Department’s effort to restrict foundational technologies, traders should not expect controls anytime soon, Sidley Austin said in an Aug. 27 post. The rulemaking process will likely take longer than Commerce’s emerging technology effort, the law firm said, which began with a 2018 pre-rule and has been criticized by industry for moving too slowly (see 1911070014).

Taiwan plans to lift import restrictions on U.S. pork and beef, President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 28, adding that some Taiwanese restrictions, including in the agricultural sector, are blocking Taiwan from forming a “closer bond” with the U.S.

Twenty-three senators from both political parties urged U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to press Canada to uphold its promises to give U.S. dairy exporters more market access. In a letter, released by Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., Aug. 26, they said that they agree with concerns about enforcement of USMCA dairy provisions expressed in a July letter sent by House members (see 2007020040), and that they are concerned that Canada's plans to fill its quotas are not consistent with those provisions. “Canada must not be permitted to effectively recreate the harmful impacts of Canada’s highly trade-distortive Classes 6 and 7 milk pricing programs,” the Aug. 25 letter said. “Canada must ... clearly establish prices for any new classes based on the end use of dairy products, and ensure that export surcharges for certain dairy products are implemented properly.”

Two House members said there is bipartisan support for increased sanctions against Belarus, urging the U.S. to quickly designate Belarusian officials for the unfair elections held earlier this month. But despite the consensus, the U.S. has been too slow to impose designations, experts said. “They're doing too little, and they're moving too slowly,” Michael Carpenter, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, said during an Aug. 27 event hosted by the think tank. “The West needs to demonstrate to all those mid-ranking people in the [government] that if you engage in repression, you're going to be sanctioned.”

U.S. companies operating in Hong Kong could face a range of complications due to the region’s new national security law, said Dustin Daugherty, head of North American business development with Dezan Shira & Associates. Although Daugherty sees reasons to be optimistic about Hong Kong’s business environment, he said the region seems to be losing many of its trade advantages.

The Bureau of Industry and Security released its long-awaited pre-rule for foundational technologies (see 2005190052), asking for industry feedback on the types of technologies BIS should target for potential export controls. The effort, which BIS is pursuing alongside restrictions for emerging technologies, seeks to pinpoint technologies that the agency said may warrant more strict controls.