The U.S. is working on more measures to dissuade companies from doing business in China, administration officials said, including through financial incentives and more industry outreach about enforcement risks. Commerce Department official Nazak Nikakhtar and State Department official Keith Krach also said the administration is working to collaborate more with trading partners against China.
Ian Cohen
Ian Cohen, Deputy Managing Editor, is a reporter with Export Compliance Daily and its sister publications International Trade Today and Trade Law Daily, where he covers export controls, sanctions and international trade issues. He previously worked as a local government reporter in South Florida. Ian graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Florida in 2017 and lives in Washington, D.C. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2019.
The U.S. should impose stricter export controls on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to prevent China from indigenizing semiconductor technologies, technology policy experts said. If the U.S. and allies successfully block China from importing and developing specialized software and advanced chips, they should then impose end-use and end-user controls to allow shipments only for civilian uses in China, the experts said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is considering permanently revising the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to allow industry employees involved in ITAR-related activities to work remotely, DDTC said in a notice released July 28. DDTC also said that in response to industry requests it will extend temporary telework measures, which had been set to expire July 31, through Dec. 31 (see 2007230033). The agency said it will use that time to “fully investigate the possibility and ramifications of making this modification, or a variation thereof, a permanent revision,” and may seek comments on the change.
A Pennsylvania cookware coating manufacturer was fined about $824,000 after its foreign subsidiaries violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a July 28 notice. OFAC said Whitford Worldwide Company subsidiaries in Italy and Turkey illegally exported coatings to Iran, and U.S. company employees oversaw the transactions.
The aerospace industry applauded the U.S. decision to loosen export restrictions on unmanned aircrafts, saying the change may allow U.S. companies to better innovate and compete in emerging markets for new aircraft technologies. The decision, announced by the State Department July 24, will no longer subject exports of certain unmanned aerial systems to a “strong presumption of denial,” but will instead impose a case-by-case review policy on a “subset” of unmanned aircrafts that fly at speeds below 800 kph.
U.S. lawmakers are seeking ways to fund a bill that would support the U.S. semiconductor industry amid rising technology competition with China. The bill (see 2006110038), which would incentivize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and provide more federal support for research and development, includes provisions for refundable investment tax credits and $10 billion to match state incentives.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls saw a “significant uptick” in license requests from foreign companies after the agency issued guidance on U.S. people exporting defense services abroad, DDTC Director of Licensing Catherine Hamilton said. The agency also saw an increase in voluntary disclosures as foreign companies realized they may have violated regulations, Hamilton said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has begun a broad review of new export controls on surveillance technologies going to China, which may also include additions to the agency’s Entity List, Acting Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Cordell Hull said. Hull called the review “comprehensive” and “in-depth,” saying it could lead to controls over advanced surveillance tools, artificial intelligence software and biometric technologies.
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the U.K. was not “strong-armed” by the U.S. into recent actions against Beijing and Hong Kong, saying the U.K. shares many of the same policy goals as the U.S. But Raab did say recent U.S. restrictions against Huawei and Chinese officials have factored into U.K. policymaking.
The Commerce Department will add 11 China-based entities to its Entity List for their involvement in human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, a notice released July 20 said. Nine of the entities are involved in the forced labor of Muslim minority groups and two conduct “genetic analyses” to “further the repression” of the minorities, Commerce said. The additions take effect July 22.