Beijing is looking to grow Renminbi-based financial networks to create an alternative to the dollar-dominated global financial system, which could help the country shield itself from some Western sanctions if it invades Taiwan, researchers and policy experts said this week. Although China isn’t yet ready to rely on those networks, that could change within several years, experts said.

A Bureau of Industry and Security rule released last week (see 2403290060) that updated and corrected portions of the agency’s October semiconductor export controls (see 2310170055) also added a new license exception and offered clarifications to export guidance issued by BIS over the last year. The changes take effect April 4, and comments are due by April 29.

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is working on a host of proposed or final regulations that could be published in the next few months, officials said last week, including revisions to its defense services controls and an exemption for certain defense trade with Australia and the U.K.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week published an updated freight forwarder guidance, outlining forwarders’ compliance responsibilities, the red flags they should be monitoring and a set of best practices they should follow when they’re involved in an export. The agency also issued a new version of its “Don’t Let This Happen to You” document, which includes new summaries and case examples of recent export control investigations.

The Census Bureau is hoping to publish a notice seeking public comments on its long-awaited routed export control rule before the upcoming presidential election, a Commerce Department official said this week.

PHILADELPHIA -- The glacial pace of developing electronically submitted export manifests is finally picking up, participants on a CBP export modernization panel said, with Tom Pagano, outbound enforcement policy branch chief, saying "we're really close."

The Bureau of Industry and Security is looking to expand its validated end-user program, which it hopes will allow more U.S. exporters to sell products to credible foreign customers without having to first apply for a license, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is sending letters to American companies that are selling or producing items found in Russian weapons, asking them to stop selling goods to certain foreign customers.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is working on a new license exception to authorize certain exports of medical devices to Russia, a Commerce Department official said.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is gearing up to issue a set of corrections and clarifications to rules it released in October for advanced computing chips and chipmaking tools (see 2310170055), a Commerce Department official said March 28.