The Commerce, State and Justice departments fined an American 3D printing company more than $25 million combined after it committed a range of export violations, including illegal shipments of aerospace technology and metal alloy powder to China and controlled design documents to Germany.
South Korean chip companies are dealing with significant “uncertainty” stemming from U.S. chip controls issued in October against China (see 2210070049) and are concerned about the looming expiration of a one-year authorization from the Commerce Department, a Korean economic security expert said last week. Although Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said the agency is working with Korean companies on potentially extending certain aspects of the authorization, details of those conversations remain unclear.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a temporary denial order last week suspending the export privileges of Russian company Radiotester OOO and owner Ilya Balakaev for illegally shipping “counterintelligence items” to Russia and North Korea. The denial order was released alongside a DOJ indictment charging Balakaev for smuggling devices used in foreign counterintelligence and military operations from the U.S. to Russia and “for the benefit” of Russia’s Federal Security Service and North Korea. Both Radiotester and Balakaev will be subject to a 180-denial order, barring either from exporting items or participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.
The U.S. announced a new, sweeping set of export controls and sanctions last week to further hobble Russia on the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, including additions to the Entity List, an expansion of industry sector restrictions on both Russia and Belarus, new export controls against Iran to address its drone transfers to Russia, and new financial sanctions against more than 100 people and entities. Many of the measures, which were announced alongside similar actions by U.S. G-7 allies, aim to “cut off the Russian defense industrial base and military from even low-technology consumer items,” the Bureau of Industry and Security said.
The State Department this week released its long-awaited revised arms transfer policies (see 2111040056), outlining how the Biden administration will assess arms transfer risks while also promoting U.S. defense trade. The Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy formalizes the “priorities and rationale” the administration has been using to adjudicate arms transfer decisions, which it said includes a heavy focus on human rights issues.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced a range of updates to its export regulations stemming from agreements made during the 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement plenary meeting, including revisions to the Commerce Control List and the license exceptions Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) and Strategic Trade Authorization (STA). The agency also made several corrections to the Export Administration Regulations, including to align the scope of its Significant Item (SI) license requirements throughout the EAR.
Japan and other G-7 countries should use the group’s trade ministers meeting later this year to push for a common set of export control standards across member states, which could help allied export control systems better respond to modern security and human rights issues, export control and technology policy experts said. In comments recently submitted to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the experts said plurilateral controls by G-7 countries and other like-minded “techno-democracies” can address some issues the existing multilateral control regimes are hindered from tackling because of Russia’s membership (see 2211210005 and 2009290042).
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The U.S. and its allies are planning a “renewed effort” to counter Russia’s sanctions evasion tactics, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said this week, speaking during a Feb. 21 event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. He said part of the effort will include new sanctions and export controls, more enforcement cooperation with allies and more direct conversations with companies that are still doing business with Russia.
The State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations need “major reform” if the U.S. wants the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership to succeed, Rajiv Shah, a fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote Feb 16. AUKUS, which is aimed at allowing the three trade partners to better share sensitive defense technology, is being hindered by the ITAR, Shah said in his ASPI article, which too often “stymie[s] collaboration and innovation between allies” and provides “no obvious reduction in security risk.”