The Bureau of Industry and Security completed nearly a quarter of its end-use checks with a “less than favorable outcome” in FY 2023, a Commerce Department official said, meaning the agency couldn’t verify those end-users as a reliable recipient of U.S.-origin export-controlled goods.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is expecting to soon finalize its proposed rule on License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization and is close to publishing new U.S. persons controls to restrict activities that support foreign military, security or intelligence agencies, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration.

U.S. companies interested in divesting Russian assets that are subject to the Export Administration Regulations may need to obtain multiple licenses from the U.S. government, a Commerce Department official said March 28.

Beijing this week urged the Netherlands to continue allowing its companies to service and repair semiconductor equipment in China, saying Dutch companies should fulfill their “contractual obligations” with their Chinese customers.

Exporters should closely examine the internet presence and physical addresses of their potential customers to help them determine whether they are dealing with legitimate businesses, Commerce Department officials said March 27.

The Bureau of Industry and Security hasn't yet made a decision on whether to move forward with export controls on automated peptide synthesizers after proposing the restrictions in April last year (see 2304190060), a Commerce Department official said this week.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is still developing a proposed rule to prevent sophisticated hacking tools and expertise from being exported to foreign governments that spy on their own citizens, a Commerce Department official said March 27.

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently completed a round of interagency review for a final rule to make tweaks, clarifications and corrections to its recent chip export control updates released in October (see 2310170055). BIS sent the correction rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Nov. 27 (see 2311280005), and the review was completed March 21. BIS has said the agency is looking to clarify several issues that exporters have raised since the controls were updated and correct other provisions that “may not have fully hit the mark we intended” (see 2311060067, 2311160044 and 2401260051).

China’s Commerce Ministry urged the U.S. against placing new export controls on companies linked to Huawei after hearing the U.S. is reportedly considering adding them to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.

The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting a rule that could harmonize its export controls with some parties subject to the Treasury Department’s financial blocking sanctions. BIS completed a round of interagency review March 7 for the final rule, which would impose export restrictions, including end-user controls, on “certain persons identified” on Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.