Multiple countries this week objected to President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of new reciprocal tariffs against trading partners (see 2504020072), saying they either plan to retaliate or are assessing how to respond.

Members of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Materials and Equipment Technical Advisory Committee were asked during their April 3 meeting to sign or re-sign non-disclosure agreements as Trump administration officials review how the TACs operate.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week revoked the export privileges of a Kenya-based company and two people for trying to illegally export airplane parts from the U.S. to Russia, including by lying to American freight forwarders and other businesses about where the parts would be sent. It also warned that the company and people are continuing to try to illegally buy export controlled parts from American businesses.

The Trump administration should reverse a planned $20 million funding cut for the Bureau of Industry and Security, which will hamper the agency’s ability to enforce export controls and weaken American technology competitiveness, a tech policy non-profit said this week.

The Bureau of Industry and Security reinstated a pause on export license applications last week, four people with knowledge of the situation said, days after officials announced at the agency’s March update conference that licensing was expected to soon return to normal.

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Four Democratic lawmakers said this week that the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, will reduce international collaboration and make it harder to keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China.

The Bureau of Industry and Security’s recent semiconductor-related export controls could place large burdens not only on exporters but also on BIS enforcement, which will face a host of challenges trying to track whether certain countries have filled their allocated chip quotas, researchers said.

The U.S. this month arrested and charged a Pakistani-Canadian national with conspiracy to violate U.S. export controls after DOJ said he illegally shipped millions of dollars worth of controlled items to entities in Pakistan, including ones on the Entity List, all while hiding the true end-users from U.S. exporters.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is ending its work in the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council as part of a broader effort to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, Jeffrey Kessler, the head of BIS, said in a closed-door meeting with agency officials last week. Kessler also said the agency plans to significantly increase export enforcement against China, warned about possible staffing cuts, urged officials to tamp down on conversations with industry, and said it’s unclear whether existing export controls against Russia will be maintained.