Export Controls & Economic Sanctions

As tensions run high between Washington and Moscow over a possibly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated today four (4) current and former Ukrainian officials under Executive Order (“EO”) 14024 dated April 15, 2021.  In a press release issued earlier today, OFAC asserted the Russian Federal Security Service (“FSB”) “recruit[s] Ukrainian citizens in key positions to gain access to sensitive information, threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine, and then leverage these Ukrainian officials to create instability in advance of a potential Russian invasion.”  OFAC also noted that Russian agents have sought to influence U.S. elections since at least 2016.

In an October 21, 2021 interim final rule (“IFR”), the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published long-awaited “cybersecurity items” controls in Categories 4 (Computers) and 5, Pt. 1 (Telecommunications) of the Commerce Control List (“CCL”) and followed the IFR up on November 12, 2021 with relevant FAQs.  The IFR will impose new export controls on certain “cybersecurity items” that relate to “intrusion software” or “IP network communications surveillance.” The IFR, originally scheduled to become effective on January 19, 2022, will now become effective on March 7, 2022.  In the January 12, 2022 notice announcing the delay, BIS stated it “may consider some modifications for the final rule” and indicated it would “provide the public with additional guidance.”  Below we describe the IFR as it currently stands.  We will update readers when BIS implements any additional edits to the IFR and/or updates its guidance.

In Husch Blackwell’s November 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • The U.S. set to rollback existing Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs
  • The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative extending exclusions for COVID related products
  • An update on U.S. Department of Commerce decisions

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The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently issued a final rule amending the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add twenty-seven (27) companies and individuals to the BIS Entity List effective November 26, 2021. These companies and researchers are alleged to have ties to China’s military quantum computing efforts as well as Pakistani nuclear and missile proliferation. The new companies added include:

In Husch Blackwell’s October 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • The U.S. and EU struck a deal on steel and aluminum tariffs
  • The U.S. Department of Commerce published a new set of AD/CVD regulations governing a multitude of administrative proceedings
  • The Port of

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In Husch Blackwell’s September 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • The Court of International Trade issued an order in the Section 301 litigation resolving the steps Plaintiffs will need to take to preserve their rights to receive refunds
  • The United States Environmental Protection

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On October 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) published a final rule in the Federal Register that places new controls on software and technology that can potentially be used for manufacturing biological weapons. The rule comes after a decision in May 2021 by the forty-three (43) participant countries…

In Husch Blackwell’s August 2021 Trade Law Newsletter, you’ll learn about the following updates in international trade and supply chain law:

  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued updated guidance for returned goods under HTSUS subheading 9801.00.10
  • Domestic industry filed anti-circumvention cases involving three countries and imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (“CSPV”) cells
  • An update

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During the past month, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has issued three separate rounds of Specially Designated Nationals & Blocked Persons List (“SDN List”) designations in order to support protests in Cuba that began on July 11th.  Further, OFAC and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and…

On August 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14038 (the “EO”) which expanded the scope of the national emergency previously declared in EO 13405 of June 16, 2006.  The EO imposes additional sanctions in response to conduct by the Government of Belarus (“GoB”) and the President Alyaksandr Lukashenka regime which the Biden Administration described…