On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice issued another Tri-seal Compliance Note, focusing this time on the obligations of foreign based persons complying with U.S. sanctions and export control laws as well as recent enforcement actions. This may signal more scrutiny on the compliance of foreign companies which we have discussed here.Continue Reading Guidance to Foreign Companies on Export Controls and Sanctions: Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and Justice Issue Tri-Seal Compliance Note on Foreign Based Persons’ Obligations to Comply with U.S. Sanctions and Export Control Laws
Export controls
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
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?
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.
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
Don’t Let the Government Name, Shame, and Fine You – Export Controls Do NOT Excuse Hiring Discrimination
When can an employer use the “national security exception” under U.S. anti-discrimination law to make a hiring decision based on the national origin of the candidate? An often overlooked area of compliance is how to comply with anti-discrimination law when the job will include access to export-controlled data.Continue Reading Don’t Let the Government Name, Shame, and Fine You – Export Controls Do NOT Excuse Hiring Discrimination
“Sanctions Are The New FCPA”: DOJ Increases Focus on Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement
On March 2, 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered remarks to the ABA’s National Institute on White Collar Crime. Unsurprisingly, her remarks focused heavily on inspiring a culture of compliance – including highlighting the DOJ’s new policy to incentivize companies to self-report criminal activity (which our Organizational Integrity Group discusses here). But, her remarks also emphasized an emerging priority for DOJ enforcement: the intersection of corporate crime and national security.Continue Reading “Sanctions Are The New FCPA”: DOJ Increases Focus on Sanctions and Export Control Enforcement
Breaking the Link – New Developments on U.S. Licenses for Exports to Huawei
It looks like the licensing restrictions on Huawei are trickling into effect.
Our sources indicate that, as early as February 27, all license applications for exports or transfers involving Huawei which were pending with the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) have been placed on Hold Without Action. Further, we understand from various industry sources that BIS has begun informing certain U.S. companies that they will not receive further licenses to export chips for end use by Huawei.Continue Reading Breaking the Link – New Developments on U.S. Licenses for Exports to Huawei
Tightening the Cordon – U.S. Restricts Licensing Policy and Adds Allies to Technology Controls
Update and Correction: We had understood that the date for the announcement of a regulatory change would be February 13. That understanding is (pretty obviously, now, on February 14) incorrect. We still believe the change is imminent and will update as soon as we have further information.
Key takeaways
- Soon, the U.S. government will officially issue a stricter policy of denial for providing lower-tech items to Huawei.
- Technological containment continues as the Netherlands and Japan move to impose U.S.-style restrictions on semiconductor exports to China.