n a speect to the 40th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department's FCPA Chief announced an anti-bribery initiative to drive cross-border collaboration in fighting foreign bribery. Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri's comments included the announcement of the International Corporate Anti-Bribery initiative, or ICAB, which will be driven by three experienced prosecutors, who will build on existing bilateral and multilateral partnerships, as well as form new partnerships.
Defense Chiefs of the AUKUS military-industrial alliance met at the Defense Innovation Unit Headquarters at Moffett Field in California to discuss progress for the partnership, especially Pillar II, the broad based defense industrial collaboration. The three nations are also establishing an AUKUS Industry Forum with trilateral government and industry representatives to help inform policy, technical and commercial frameworks to facilitate the development and delivery of advanced capabilities. The initial meeting of that forum will occur in the first half of 2024. In a Joint Statement, the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed the three nations' commitment to maximize the strategic and technological advantage of AUKUS . They agreed that advancing AUKUS requires continued commitment to streamlining defense trade controls and information-sharing while minimizing policy and financial barriers across public and private sectors.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced plans to create an Export Control Advisory Panel “to help us get our export controls to be more effective by having a continuous engagement with industry.” The announcement was included in her remarks to the Fall meeting of the President’s Export Council (PEC) November 29th which included a recap of AI initiatives and the announcement of a mission to the ASEAN region in March.
Congress should consider creating a single export licensing system to strengthen export controls on China, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report to Congress released last week. In its report, the commission urged Congress to consider a number of steps to make it more difficult for China to evade US controls. First, the report recommends that Congress hold hearings to evaluate the potential for establishing a single export licensing system.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Kendler held a briefing November 6 to discuss the rules issued October 17th. She explained the new parameters, associated license requirements, the new notified advanced computing license exception, and some of the measures put into place to address possible circumvention of the controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is rescheduling the Update Conference on Export Controls and Policy from November 28–30, 2023 to March 27-29, 2024.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on a sweeping roster of individuals and entities from People’s Republic of China (PRC), Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) abetting Russia’s war against Ukraine by providing Russia with technology and equipment from third countries. The U.S. Department of State is also issuing nearly 100 sanctions today targeting Russia’s future energy production and revenue, metals and mining sector, defense procurement, and those involved in supporting the Russian government’s war effort and other malign activities.
Four individuals were arrested, and an indictment and criminal complaint were unsealed this week regarding two separate conspiracies to unlawfully export controlled, dual-use technologies to Russia. October 31, a criminal complaint was unsealed, and a Brooklyn, New York, resident and two Canadian nationals were arrested in connection with a global procurement scheme in which the defendants used two corporate entities registered in Brooklyn to unlawfully source and purchase dual-use electronics on behalf of end-users in Russia, including companies affiliated with the Russian military. Separately, a Brooklyn resident was arrested, and a four-count indictment was unsealed alleging an illegal exports scheme to procure dual-use electronic components for entities in Russia involved in the development and manufacture of drones for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is pausing for approximately 90 days the issuance of new export licenses involving certain firearms, related components, and ammunition under its jurisdiction and the provision of new export assistance activities for such products to all non-governmental end users worldwide, apart from those in certain destinations.
On November 6, 2023, Assistant Secretary for Export Administration Thea D. Rozman Kendler will conduct a public briefing on the two interim final rules and one final rule: “Implementation of Additional Export Controls: Certain Advanced Computing Items; Supercomputer and Semiconductor End Use; Updates and Corrections” and “Export Controls on Semiconductor Manufacturing Items,” which were both filed for public inspection at the Federal Register on October 18, 2023. BIS published an associated final rule, “Entity List Additions,” in the Federal Register on October 19, 2023.
On Tuesday 17 October, the Commerce Department tightened controls over exports of AI-specific semiconductors. This move makes it more challenging for U.S. firms like Nvidia and Intel to market their current products in China or to launch new products as workarounds. Addressing oversights: This step is designed to mend potential oversights in the export regulations declared last year. Those regulations had been met with notable resistance from the international semiconductor sector and increased strains with Beijing.
At the recent Defense Trade Advisory Group Meeting, Timothy A. Betts, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, presented an overview of the significant developments and accomplishments of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), as well as the announcement of his replacement by Compliance Director Jae Shin.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri reviewed developments in the Criminal Division's revised enformement policies, citing examples in the department's caseload year to date. Previously Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Argentieri assumed her current role in August replacing Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite. Her remarks were delivered at the American Bar Association 10th Annual London White Collar Crime Institute October 10, 2023.
Global commodity trading powerhouse Trafigura announced the establishment of $400 million revolving credit facilities subsidized by the Export Import Bank of the US (EXIM). Each policy is for $200 million, with a 90 percent guarantee, for a taxpayer exposure of $360 million. The subsidies to Trafigura’s bankers, Citibank and Credit Agricole “could support over 12,000 U.S. jobs,” according to EXIM statements.
Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party kept the business of his committee humming last month, despite the rest of the Chamber being run into in the ditch. The twice-deployed Marine, Princetonian and Georgetown PhD has maintained a steady drumbeat of hearings and press events scolding US firms for doing business with the Chinese and lambasting the administration for not sharing his vitriol. Year to date, the committee's efforts have been strictly performative, calling for the production of reams of information on a broad array of topics. Analysis and informed policy reccomendations may follow.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a "Department-wide Safe Harbor Policy" for voluntary self-disclosures of misconduct by acquirers in the mergers and acquisition process.
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has published new best practice guidance for industry to help prevent items that are considered the most significant to Russian weaponry requirements from being diverted for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The. Septermber 28 guidance recommends that exporters and reexporters of these highest priority items seek written assurances of compliance from their customers to help prevent diversion.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the addition of three Chinese manufacturers to the Uyghur Forced Labor blacklist which, if enforced, could greatly impact the US vinyl flooring industry. China accounts for 63% of all vinyl floor tiling shipped to the United States in the last two years, and Vietnam comes in second at 20%. Materially all of the PVC in these shipments is sourced from the Uyghur region, including transshipments through Vietnam.
As a follow-up to the establishment of the “Export Enforcement Five” or “E5” partnership to coordinate on export control enforcement issues in June 2023, the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States have issued joint guidance to industry and academia identifying high priority items critical to Russian weapons systems and urging specific actions to prevent diversion of these items to Russia through third countries.
The US Export-Import Bank Board of Directors has approved three transactions in the energy and transportation sectors, the Bank announced Friday. 1. Pre-construction engineering and feasibility studies for the potential development of two nuclear reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant complex in Romania. 2. Export of Wabtec locomotive and locomotive shunter kits to the national railway of Kazakhstan. 3. Repair and upgrade of operating gas turbines in ten locations in Iraq.