Top Story

BIS: More judgment, less guidance

The Bureau of Industry and Security is demanding more sophisticated compliance judgments from exporters while retreating from the education and engagement that help companies make them, according to a recent commentary from CSIS.

Welcome to The Export Practitioner

Time has never been more valuable for trade and compliance professionals.

The Export Practitioner's mission is to rise above the political noise to deliver clear, timely reporting on export licensing and enforcement, national security, and trade policy.

Visit our sites for daily updates from Washington. Subscribe to our newsletter get a leg up on the week, and to our flagship monthly magazine for analysis from leading trade compliance experts.

If there's something you'd like to see in our pages, let us know. Please send your suggestions to fruffing@traderegs.com or call 703.283.5220.

– Frank Ruffing, Editor

Export Practitioner Oct. 2026

View this issue

Browse other issues

USTR Extends China Tariff Exclusions and Suspension of Maritime Fees

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has extended 178 exclusions from Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods through January 9, 2027. The action preserves 164 exclusions for specified industrial, medical, consumer, and other products, along with 14 exclusions for solar manufacturing equipment. In a separate action, USTR extended for two months the suspension of fees on certain maritime transport services and additional duties on Chinese ship-to-shore cranes and other cargo-handling equipment.

Proposed Chinese Optical-Transceiver Restrictions Raise Security and Supply Concerns

Microsoft and other tech industry officials are reportedly urging the Trump administration to abandon proposed restrictions on Chinese optical transceivers, warning that supply disruptions could impede U.S. artificial-intelligence infrastructure development

Chinese biomedical firm off DoD blacklist

The U.S. Department of Defense has removed a Shanghai-based frug testing firm from its list of “Chinese military companies,” three months after a federal judge found that the department’s designation likely rested on material factual errors and unsupported characterizations of the evidence.

Scrutiny of Commerce’s Decision Process in Chip-Diversion Inquiry

Congressional scrutiny of advanced AI chip exports is turning to the integrity of the government’s decision process: who authorized shipments, what intelligence informed those decisions, and whether Nvidia’s access to senior officials affected enforcement.

Block announces tentative $764 million settlement with Justice Department

The CashApp parent accrued $764 million as of September 30 but cautioned that final terms could produce additional losses. The company also reported that SEC staff closed a separate investigation in March 2026 without recommending enforcement action.

ITAR Omnibus Proposal: Targeted Relief, Continuing Controls

The State Department’s proposed ITAR omnibus rule remains an opportunity for industry comment and transition planning.

MiraclePlus Sanctions Require Review of Fund Exposure, Ownership and Payments

U.S. sanctions against five Chinese entities connected to former Google engineer Linwei Ding’s trade-secret theft place immediate demands on banks, investment managers and technology companies.

BIS Extends Affiliates Rule Suspension Through January 10

The extension confirms that the Affiliates Rule suspension will continue through January 10, resolving uncertainty over whether it was covered by the extended U.S.–China trade truce. Companies gain two months to strengthen ownership screening and due diligence, but the underlying rule remains intact: BIS has deferred the expanded controls, not withdrawn them.

China Sets Review Deadlines for Dual-Use Exports

China’s revised procedures offer greater predictability when suppliers’ shipments face scrutiny over potential dual-use export controls, along with a way to seek separate clearance of unrelated goods.

UK Proposes Updates to Strategic Export Controls, Including Advanced Technology Restrictions

The proposed amendments would update UK military and dual-use controls, including those covering semiconductor manufacturing equipment, advanced computing and specialised materials; revise country listings for Haiti and the Central African Republic; and phase out GEA001 in Great Britain.

Read more of our Export Control coverage

Licensing

State Proposes Broader ITAR Revisions Following Country-Policy Changes, Underwater-Vehicle Rule, and Corrections

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has proposed revisions to the U.S. Munitions List, key ITAR definitions, and licensing exemptions. The proposal follows September actions revising country policies, narrowing controls on uncrewed underwater vehicles, and correcting inadvertent deletions from exemption provisions.

Russia Lab Death Sharpens Debate Over Biotechnology Controls

An unexplained death at a Russian high-containment biological research facility is putting renewed attention on a problem that U.S. export-control officials have been confronting for several years: biotechnology is advancing faster than the regulatory architecture intended to keep dangerous biological capabilities from proliferating.

State Proposes USML Reductions, “Specially Designed” Changes, and New Repair Exemption

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls is scheduled to publish a proposed rule on October 1 that would narrow U.S. Munitions List controls, revise key ITAR definitions, and establish a license exemption for temporary exports of foreign defense articles for servicing and repair.

Import regulation and export controls: "two sides of the same coin"

In the waning days of Summer, we sat down with Nazak Nikakhtar, former Commerce Department official and current Chair of Wiley Rein's National Security Practice to hear her thoughts on ECRA, the Entity List, BIS-ITA interplay, and navigating a career in private practice and public service.

People

Andrea Gacki Leaves Record of Pragmatic Enforcement

Andrea Gacki is closing a 25-year career in federal service with an enforcement action that neatly captures her approach: exacting about failures, skeptical of paper compliance and focused on whether financial controls work in practice.

BIS Nominee: Export Controls Must Balance Security and Economics

Abby Warren, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead export administration at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, told the Senate Banking Committee July 23 that export controls should address significant national-security risks while accounting for their economic impact

Practitioner Profile: Tim O'Toole

The always cool and ever-original Tim O’Toole, practice lead for Miller & Chevalier Chartered’s export controls and sanctions team, indefatigable compliance educator and host of the Embargoed! Podcast took some time ahead of Independence Day to talk enforcement trends.

Erich Ferrari: 'Sanctions are simple, but they're not easy.'

For businesses and individuals who find themselves on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals list, a few firms stand out that offer hope for redemption. Ferrari & Associates is one of them. With 17 years of experience advising clients on how to get off OFAC’s list or avoid sanctions in the first place, founder Erich Ferrari has racked up wins, bringing more than a few blacklisted entities back to life from the designation known as “civil death.”

Read about more people in the news...

Practitioner Profile: Mario Mancuso

Before the semiconductor tensions of the 2020s and the export control reforms of the 2010s, Mario Mancuso led the Bureau of Industry and Security in the final years of the Bush administration — pushing the agency toward greater prominence and deeper national security impact.

Practitioner Profile: Sarah Gerdes

West Coast attorney Sarah Gerdes joined Akin’s international trade practice in Los Angeles at the start of the year as part of its national security & global investigations team after a distinguished tenure in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where she most recently served as the Deputy Chief of the National Security Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney. In conversation with The Export Practitioner, edited for length and clarity below, she shared lessons from her experience leading national security investigations and advice for meeting the current moment in enforcement.

Q&A with Ryan Fayhee

Ryan Fayhee, now a partner at Akin Gump, led the issue with his contribution on extradition in export enforcement cases. The piece urged prosecutors to emphasize the deception rogue exporters and middlemen undertake to thwart U.S. national security restrictions in order to sway foreign counterparts, as well as the proper interpretation of dual-criminality treaties. The article was published near the end of Fayhee’s illustrious 11-year run at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he cut his teeth on cross-border investigations covering espionage, sanctions and embargoes, arms proliferation, trade secret theft, cybercrime, corruption, and money laundering. He capped his tenure in the department’s National Security Division as the government’s principal attorney for sanctions and export control prosecutions. Fayhee granted The Export Practitioner an interview, edited for length and clarity below, to discuss how international collaboration in export controls has evolved, how investigations look from the private sector and his ongoing work to bring people back to the U.S.