The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed by a week a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced May 6. The ports had planned to begin imposing the fee in November 2021 but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until May 13.
The Census Bureau is still receiving questions about the role of auction houses in export transactions and that “is probably one of the biggest challenges that we're facing right now,” said Omari Wooden, assistant division chief for trade outreach and regulations. Some exporters have struggled to determine whether the houses should be listed as the U.S Principal Party in Interest and have asked Census for more guidance, but the agency has said each case may be different (see 2107010043).
CBP is almost ready to mandate electronic export manifest for ocean, air and rail, and plans to issue an EEM pilot for trucks within the next year, said Jim Swanson, director of the cargo and security controls division, for cargo and conveyance security in the CBP Office of Field Operations. CBP has been under pressure to move faster on the project after delays in 2021 pushed back its full release to at least this year (see 2110180038).
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security may look to increase collaboration with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to help them better investigate export control violations, said Thea Kendler, BIS’ assistant secretary for export administration. Although BIS helps train agents from other departments at the Export Enforcement Coordination Center, it could look into bolstering that work, Kendler said May 4 at the annual University Export Control Conference at the University of Pennsylvania.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn’t received many questions on its new cybersecurity export control rule since it took effect in March (see 2110200036 and 2201110025) but is planning more guidance to help industry and academia comply with the restrictions, a government official said. The official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly at the May 4 University Export Control Conference at the University of Pennsylvania, said the rule may not be getting much attention because its implementation coincided with a string of Russia-related export controls.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security is leaning toward new export controls on brain computer interface technologies despite urging from industry to avoid the restrictions altogether. Thea Kendler, BIS assistant secretary for export administration, said BCI technology has too many potential “nefarious” uses to not be subject to at least some restrictions.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Bureau of Industry and Security has no immediate plans to remove the virus that caused the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, from its export control classification of EAR99 (see 2002250069), a government official said. Removing the virus from EAR99 -- a classification for products that generally don't require export licenses under the Export Administration Regulations -- could subject exports of the virus to restrictions that may hinder vital information sharing or vaccine delivery, the official said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week posted its first tranche of Russia-related frequently asked questions to provide guidance on recent export control announcements. The FAQs cover license requirements, license application review policies, the agency's foreign direct product rules and de minimis rules, excluded countries, luxury goods, license exceptions and country group and country chart changes. The agency said it plans to update the guidance as it receives more questions and as new controls are announced.
PHILADELPHIA -- The U.S. government is working through a range of challenges when delivering export control guidance to university researchers, government officials said, including to some colleges that opt out of certain projects rather than risk violating controls. The government is also still running into challenging questions about whether its controls should apply to fundamental research, one official said.
As countries continue to impose trade restrictions against Russia and Belarus, companies should expect longer review times and increased scrutiny on foreign direct investment involving either of those two nations, law firms said. Deal-makers in the EU should specifically prepare for more red tape resulting from a recent “sweeping” guidance from the European Commission, Fried Frank said in a May 2 alert, which could also speed up the rollout of further mandatory FDI screening regimes across Europe.