A pair of forthcoming regulations from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and the Bureau of Industry and Security indicate that Commerce will soon take on responsibility for exports of silencers and other firearm accessories.

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.

Solventum Corp., the healthcare and medtech company spun off from 3M in 2024, will pay the government $1.6 million after admitting that it sent dozens of contactors — devices used to regulate the amount of gas in liquids — to semiconductor companies in China without the required licenses.

Congress’s proposed Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware, or MATCH, Act would pressure U.S. allies to move beyond today’s partial semiconductor-equipment controls and align more closely with Washington’s China restrictions.

Cryptocurrency is playing a growing role in financing the procurement of low-cost military drones and components linked to conflicts involving Russia and Iran, according to a  new report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The findings highlight emerging compliance risks at the intersection of digital finance and modern warfare, as well as potential avenues for monitoring adversaries' acquisitions.

A new report says states backing the Pall Mall Process should tighten and better coordinate export controls on commercial cyber intrusion capabilities, arguing that existing tools can curb transfers that threaten human rights and national security but remain underused, unevenly applied and poorly explained to exporters.

A bipartisan bill aimed at closing what lawmakers call a cloud-computing loophole in U.S. export controls is drawing fresh scrutiny from compliance lawyers, who say companies should begin assessing remote-access exposure now rather than waiting for Commerce to write implementing rules. The Remote Access Security Act, H.R. 2683, passed the House on Jan. 12 by a 369-22 vote and was referred to the Senate Banking Committee on Jan. 13. The bill would broaden the export-control system to include “remote access of items,” not just exports, reexports and in-country transfers. 

A new Congressional Research Service report is raising fresh doubts about the Trump administration’s legal authority to tie China-bound AI chip export approvals to a 25% payment collected through a U.S. import tariff, concluding that the statutory and constitutional footing for the arrangement is uncertain. 

The Commerce Department’s new American AI Exports Program is beginning to draw scrutiny over the breadth of discretion it gives Washington to select favored industry players and pair export-control advantages with financing and diplomatic support, even as the administration casts the effort as a strategic vehicle for selling U.S. “full-stack” AI systems abroad.

A federal judge has strengthened the Commerce Department’s hand in shielding the record behind Entity List decisions, holding that the Export Control Reform Act can bar disclosure of documents tied to BIS listing actions.

The Commerce Department has withdrawn a draft rule that would have required U.S. approval for most exports of advanced AI chips worldwide, underscoring internal divisions over whether Washington should use chip controls as a global licensing regime tied to foreign investment and security concessions. 

Democratic lawmakers on Monday sharpened their criticism of the Trump administration’s decision to approve at least one license for advanced Nvidia AI chip sales to China, arguing the move weakens U.S. national security.

The British government released a comprehensive overview of its sanctions regime this week, including plans to double maximum penalties for civil financial sanctions violations. The policy paper follows recent confirmation that the government plans to introduce new legislation to require exporters to obtain licenses for shipments at risk of diversion to sanctioned destinations, namely Russia.

The Trump administration is weighing draft rules that would require U.S. approval for most exports of advanced AI accelerators worldwide, effectively turning the Commerce Department into a gatekeeper for where and how countries build large AI data centers.

The State Department is renewing the charter of its Defense Trade Advisory Group (DTAG), a Federal Advisory Committee Act panel that provides industry-facing advice to the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on U.S. defense trade policy and administration of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). 

Former Commerce export-control policy chief Kevin Wolf told the Massachusetts Export Expo that U.S. exporters are navigating an unusually opaque period in export controls—defined less by sweeping new rules than by missing policy signals, reduced regulator engagement, and unresolved China- and AI-focused measures that have left companies planning against shifting, often informal, government direction.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published two Paperwork Reduction Act notices on February 24, 2026, seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) action on information collections tied to (1) foreign availability determinations under EAR Part 768 and (2) reporting of EAR violations under EAR Part 764.

A new Federal Reserve study finds the AI infrastructure buildout is now large enough to shift global trade patterns. As that capex wave spreads beyond the United States, export-compliance expectations are increasingly shaping how data centers are designed, procured, and operated.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has announced a settlement with Vizocom ICT (El Cajon, California) over the unlicensed export of controlled technology to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in connection with military radio antennas.

The Commerce Department’s top export-enforcement official told House lawmakers that increasingly complex diversion networks targeting U.S. dual-use technology are outpacing current enforcement resources—and that Congress should strengthen the statutory deterrence structure under the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA).