The EU is going extraterritorial, and it is doing so through private contract. It is a pretty neat trick.Continue Reading E(U)xterritoriality of EU Sanctions: The No Russia Clause
Reid Whitten
Reid is the Managing Partner of Sheppard Mullin's London office, practicing in international trade regulations and investigations.
Protective Packaging: The EU’s Economic Security Package Changes the Landscape in Global Technology Controls
The EU plans to step up controls on its home-grown technology. That is the short version.Continue Reading Protective Packaging: The EU’s Economic Security Package Changes the Landscape in Global Technology Controls
Should You Be Concerned About Foreign Entities of Concern?
Grants and tax credits, who doesn’t love them? The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is full of them, and recent Department of Energy (DOE) Notification of a Proposed Interpretive Rule provides guidance on who will get to benefit from those grants and tax credits. The BIL is a historic investment in U.S. infrastructure, the breadth of which is beyond the scope of this blog. However, thankfully, the DOE Proposed Rule focuses on batteries.Continue Reading Should You Be Concerned About Foreign Entities of Concern?
Carrot and Stick Export Controls: U.S. Export Controls Give Benefits to Allies
Export controls are the manifestation of foreign, economic, and national security policy, and the implementation of policy requires dynamic adjustment, a back-and-forth, a balance. So, on December 7, 2023[1], amid the tightening of new semiconductor regulations, BIS announced it was relaxing regulations around another set of exports. This drawing back of the controls arrives in the form of a set of three rules easing license requirements and expanding license exceptions. While seemingly disparate, each of the three areas of amendments represents a consistent push to align U.S. export policy with those of its allies and trade partners, as well as to reward those allies with (slightly) less burdensome controls.Continue Reading Carrot and Stick Export Controls: U.S. Export Controls Give Benefits to Allies
The Semiconductor Moment
- Semiconductors are the only commodity that are as ubiquitous and as heavily regulated.
- Semiconductors are unique: nothing so common is as tightly controlled, and nothing so tightly controlled is as common.
- But this puts the industry in an extremely complex position.
- Other industries may ask . . . are we next?
Binance’s Paper Compliance Program Crumples Under OFAC Scrutiny in Largest OFAC Settlement in History
On November 21, 2023, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its largest settlement in history with the virtual currency exchange Binance. This almost-billion dollar settlement is a part of a larger comprehensive settlement with the Department of Justice, FinCEN, and the CFTC, totaling over $4 billion. OFAC found that Binance had allowed 1.6 million transactions in violation of multiple sanctions regimes while Binance’s C-Suite was complicit. Binance’s blunders that led to this enforcement action highlight the importance of management commitment to compliance programs.[1]Continue Reading Binance’s Paper Compliance Program Crumples Under OFAC Scrutiny in Largest OFAC Settlement in History
China Semiconductor Export Regulations, Episode IV – “Technological Containment” – U.S. Semiconductor Restrictions Aim to Align Allies with U.S. Policy
In 1947, then President Harry Truman pledged that the United States would support any nation in its efforts to resist Communism and prevent its spread. The policy was commonly called, “Containment,” capturing the concept that countries aligned with U.S. policy would surround the Soviet Union and its allies, containing the spread of their ideologies. The policy was maintained as doctrine and a guiding principle in U.S. policy throughout the Cold War era.Continue Reading China Semiconductor Export Regulations, Episode IV – “Technological Containment” – U.S. Semiconductor Restrictions Aim to Align Allies with U.S. Policy
China Semiconductor Export Regulations, Episode III – What a Difference a Year Makes
Key Takeaways
- Advanced Computing and Supercomputing ECCNs are expanded.
- Controls applied to exports to countries other thanChina; countries from where items may be reexported to China.
- Chipmaking equipment controls are expanded and the de minimis rule reduced.
- New entities are added to the U.S. Entity List with the Footnote 4 (FN4) FDPR designation.
- More U.S.-person activity is controlled.
Reverse CFIUS Unveiled: Focus on China, Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing
On August 9, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order (E.O.) ordering the issuance of outbound investment restrictions. This E.O. comes after nearly a year of anticipation (as we have documented on several occasions over the past year). This is the start of the reverse Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process that has been mostly speculation (and blog articles) until yesterday. In conjunction, the Treasury Department issued a press release, fact sheet, and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comments from the public on the proposed restrictions by September 28.Continue Reading Reverse CFIUS Unveiled: Focus on China, Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing
The EU’s 11th Sanctions Package: The Long(er) Arm of the Law
On June 23, 2023, the EU released its 11th package of sanctions on Russia. This package is designed to improve enforcement with new anti-circumvention rules, new trade restrictions, and new designations. The anti-circumvention rules are quite a novel aspect and could result in the first extraterritorial reach of European sanctions.Continue Reading The EU’s 11th Sanctions Package: The Long(er) Arm of the Law
Everything but the Kitchen Sink (and Maybe That Too!): New Export Controls on Russia Cover Whole Categories of Low-Level Commercial Electronic and Mechanical Equipment
The United States and its allies are aiming to choke off the supplies that support the last vestiges of Russian industry. On May 19, 2023, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released new regulations implementing additional restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) as well as corrections and clarifications on existing controls for Russia and Belarus.[1] Those additions build on recent export control regulations issued on February 24, 2023 (which we discuss here) and significantly expand controls over items that can be used in even basic electronics and manufacturing. The new regulations continue BIS’s push to leave very little that may be sent into Russia from the United States.Continue Reading Everything but the Kitchen Sink (and Maybe That Too!): New Export Controls on Russia Cover Whole Categories of Low-Level Commercial Electronic and Mechanical Equipment