The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”) regarding the identification and review of controls for certain “foundational technologies.” This ANPRM represents another step toward implementation of the “emerging and foundational technology” provisions set forth in the Export Control Reform Act (“ECRA”) of
U.S. Adds 38 New Huawei Affiliates to Entity List While Again Expanding Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has announced that it is further restricting access by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and its designated non-U.S. affiliates (“Huawei”) to U.S.-produced technology and software. As we have previously discussed, BIS first added Huawei to its Entity List on May 15, 2019 and has continued to impose additional export restrictions on Huawei under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). Most recently, BIS published a Federal Register notice to implement the following enhancements. Although BIS published this Federal Register notice on August 20, 2020, the following rule changes took effect retroactively as of August 17, 2020:
U.S. Seeks Snapback of U.N. Sanctions on Iran Despite Departure from Nuclear Deal
The United States is formally demanding that the United Nations (U.N.) reimpose sanctions on Iran for its failure to meet commitments to limit its nuclear program set forth under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). U.N. sanctions on Iran were lifted in 2015 as part of the terms of the JCPOA, which included the United States, European Union, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China as signatories. The U.S. formally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated sanctions on Iran.
Updated CBP Marking Guidance on Goods from Hong Kong; Effective Date Pushed Back to November 9, 2020
On August 10, 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice announcing that goods produced in Hong Kong and exported to the U.S. must now be marked as a product of China (e.g., Made in China), which we covered in a previous post here. The marking changes were originally set
U.S. Moves to Ban TikTok and WeChat Apps Amid U.S.-China Tensions
On August 6, 2020, the White House issued two (2) Executive Orders (“EO”) banning the popular China-based social media app TikTok and the messaging and electronic payments app WeChat. Both orders are scheduled to take effect in 45 days (approximately September 21, 2020). While a U.S. ban on TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., had been anticipated, especially after India banned the app earlier this year, the EO on Tencent Holding Ltd.’s (“Tencent”) WeChat was not anticipated and has significant potential business ramifications.
U.S. Increases Pressure on Russian Gas Pipelines with Imposition of New CAATSA Secondary Sanctions; Issues New General Licenses for Companies Doing Business with GAZ Group
The U.S. Department of State recently published updated guidance pertaining to Section 232 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (“CAATSA”). The revised guidelines subject energy export pipelines originating from Russia, particularly the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines, to secondary Section 232 sanctions (not to be confused with Section 232 of the Trade
USTR Grants Extensions to Products Subject to Section 301 List 1
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced today that it will extend certain product exclusions scheduled to expire on July 9, 2020 for twelve (12) specific products which were subject to Section 301 List 1 tariffs at a rate of 25%. As a result of these extensions, the exclusion extensions will now expire
BIS Allows U.S. Companies to Work with Huawei on Standards
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a rule change effective June 18, 2020, which amends the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to allow for the release of certain technology to Huawei Technologies, Co., Ltd. and 114 of its non-U.S. affiliates designated on the
USTR Initiates Section 301 Digital Services Tax Investigations Covering India, the European Union and Several Other Countries
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced on June 2, 2020 that it is initiating Section 301 investigations on Digital Services Taxes (“DSTs”) adopted or under consideration by Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, the European Union (“EU”), India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom (“U.K.”). The Section 301 DST investigations could lead
BIS Adds 33 Chinese Entities to the Entity List, Citing Human Rights Abuses
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently announced the addition of 32 Chinese companies and 1 Chinese government agency to the Entity List, citing connections to items for military end-use and human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. The addition of these Chinese entities to the Entity